One of the young men she had just met had obviously paid for her ride. Her face was red when he came down the aisle. “I guess,” he said, grinning, “if I pay your fare I can sit by you.

Leslie called them Judy and Bill, which bothered Jess more than he wanted it to. It was none of his business what Leslie called her parents. But he just couldn’t get used to it.

It’s the principle of the thing, Jess. That’s what you’ve got to understand. You have to stop people like that. Otherwise they turn into tyrants and dictators.

We need a place”, she said, “just for us. It would be so secret that we would never tell anyone in the whole world about it.

One of the novels that was hardest for me to write had to deal with the horrible slaughter of war. I almost didn’t finish Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom for just that reason.

St. Faith’s, as she called her compound, was financed entirely by donations, some from friends abroad and some from admiring Chinese benefactors.

It’s such a thrill when an adult comes up to me and says, ‘I read your book as a child and really loved it.’ That’s a tremendous compliment.

Leslie was one of those people who sat quietly at her desk, never whispering or daydreaming or chewing gum, doing beautiful schoolwork, and yet her brain was so full of mischief that if the teacher could have once seen through that mask of perfection, she would have thrown her out in horror.

If you wanted to greet him or get his attention, you had to say: “Oh, Mr. Forest-Ranger-who-stands-in-the-tower-watching-out-for-forest fires!” If you abbreviated it, or, heaven help us, addressed him simply as “David,” you would get no response.

I will arise,” he replied with dignity, “when thou removes this fool dog off my gut.