"When I was a kid, I adored books featuring "everyday" magic, the type of magic that seemed within reach. It wasn't likely I would find myself in Middle Earth, but it maybe I could find a magic ring. Time Spies is a Valentine to the books of Edward Eager, Jane Langton, and E. Nesbit."

—on the TIME SPIES series (CB)

“I don’t remember the exact comment, but it was historically anachronistic. Or maybe it was hysterical fiction.”

— on THE WORLD ACCORDING TO KALEY (MG)

"In the dozen years since PRINCESS NEVERMORE was published, I've received piles of letters and emails from readers asking for a sequel (and a movie, but that's a whole other interview...). I admit that I left the reader hanging at the end of Princess Nevermore. I'd always intended to continue the story, but I never meant to wait so long."

—on PRINCESS NEVERMORE
and CAM'S QUEST (YA)

"While I was writing the book, I imagined my students as my audience. It helped me get the pace and the tone right. I knew middle school kids well. I knew what they found exciting and funny, and what they found boring."

—on THE LIGHTNING THIEF (MG)

"I was pregnant with a book! I couldn't wait to cradle it in my hands and show its jaunty little jacket cover to the world. Little did I know that my editor would produce two healthy human babies before my book would land on library shelves."

— on COME TO MY PARTY (PB)

"When I saw the actual flag at the Museum of Tolerance, I was deeply moved. To think that former prisoners at Mauthausen, one of the worse of the concentration camps, had the spirit and drive to create this gift for their liberators despite their weakened and miserable condition. This was a testament to the dignity and humanity of people."

—on THE FLAG WITH FIFTY-SIX STARS (PB)

"I just wanted to work on something completely different, something fun and quite possibly mysterious and magical."

— on LILY'S GHOSTS (MG)

See also: Laura Ruby on Challenges to LILY'S GHOSTS

"I wondered what would happen if a compromising photo of a nice, normal teenaged girl was sent via email accounts and camera phones. How would everyone react? And what would a 'good' girl do?"

—on GOOD GIRLS (YA)

“The characters in my story were named after my real brothers and sisters. My sisters cried when they heard the inspiration for the story because they remembered.”

— on LUPITA’S PAPALOTE (PB)

"After I wrote EMPRESS OF THE WORLD, I knew that Battle Hall Davies—who's the love interest in Empress—needed her own voice. In Empress, we only see her through her girlfriend Nicola Lancaster's eyes—beautiful, compelling, ultimately inexplicable. But of course, that's not how Battle sees herself."

—on THE RULES FOR HEARTS (YA)