To me, the pinnacle of my career is writing for youth. I can die happy: I have succeeded in doing what I have always wanted to do.

I think it's always natural for children to rebel against their parents and establish their own identity. And also, I think parents get invested in, you know, doing the right thing? And so their anxiety about being good parents might, in a way, affect a relationship negatively.

I always wanted to write for children. When I was growing up, we were really poor. My mother had left, and it was all a mess. So I lived in my head a lot, and I would get lots of books for Christmas - from librarians and teachers - and they just fed my imagination.

I tried the second season of 'American Horror Story,' and it scared me horribly. I guess I prefer my own imagination to a realized visual.

Every time a bookseller hands a child a book, they are doing something that is the heart and soul of the American dream and the American ideal. It's a very sacred tradition.

In 'Bayou Magic,' I write about African goddess-mermaids who accompanied slaves to America.