It's Not Only Children Who Grow. Parents

A Person Who Deserves My Loyalty Receives It.

The Vehemence With Which Certain Critics Have Chosen Not Simply To Criticize What I've Written, But To Challenge My Writing This Story At All, Speaks Of What The Book Is About: Fear Of Disapproval.

When I Was 12 Years Old, I Read Nancy Drew Mysteries And Biographies Of Madame Curie And Florence Nightingale And Books About Girls Who Love Horses Or Go To Nursing School. I Belonged To The Girl Scouts And Got A's In School And Rarely Disobeyed My Parents. I Still Kept A Collection Of Barbie Dolls In My Room, And I Almost Never Spoke To Boys.

I Believe Every One Of Us Possesses A Fundamental Right To Tell Our Own Story.

I Think Of Myself As A Realistic Writer, Not A Creator Of Soap Opera Or Melodrama.