It's Not So Much That

I Don't Really Know Exactly How It Happened But I Don't Like The Idea That I Would Ever Have Said I'm Going To Write About Racism Or Puberty Or Bullying.

"summer Sisters" Was Actually Was A Huge Influence On "girls" Because It Was The First Thing I Ever Consumed That Sort Of Looked At The Way That Female Friendship Can Be Glorious And Can Be Complicated And Can Be So Like A Worse Betrayal Than Something Romantic And It Just Showed These Archetypes Of Femininity Than Totally Sort Of Individuated Them And Exploded Them.

When I Was Growing Up, I Dreamed About Becoming A Cowgirl, A Detective, A Spy, A Great Actress, Or A Ballerina. Not A Dentist, Like My Father, Or A Homemaker, Like My Mother - And Certainly Not A Writer, Although I Always Loved To Read.

If No One Speaks Out For [young Readers], If They Don’t Speak Out For Themselves, All They’ll Get For Required Reading Will Be The Most Bland Books Available. Instead Of Finding The Information They Need At The Library, Instead Of Finding Novels That Illuminate Life, They Will Find Only Those Materials To Which Nobody Could Possibly Object... In This Age Of Censorship I Mourn The Loss Of Books That Will Never Be Written, I Mourn The Voices That Will Be Silenced — Writers’ Voices, Teachers’ Voices, Students’ Voices — And All Because Of Fear.

I Loved To Read, And I Think Any Child Who Loves To Read Will Read Anything, Including The Back Of The Cereal Box, Which I Did Every Morning.