Katherine Paterson

I love writing for young adults because they are such a wonderful audience, they are good readers, and they care about the books they read.

Kids often ask me if characters are real or made up - and I always tell them, 'I hope they're real but I made them up.'

Death is very mysterious to us. One moment someone is there with us, and the next moment they're not.

If you compare NASA's annual budget to explore the heavens, that one year budget would fund NOAA's budget to explore the oceans for 1,600 years.

I'm not afraid of wanting money at all. Money will give me more power to do things that are truer to my spirit than what I'm already doing.

Before I die, I will preach to the Muslims in the Arab world. I will preach in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. I will preach in Tehran. I will do it under the umbrella of God. And see its impact.