Karen Hesse

“I turn my back on him as he goes,and settle myself in the parlor,and touch Ma's piano.My fingers leave sighsin the dust.”

“I have earned wages as a waitress, a nanny, a librarian, a personnel officer, an agricultural laborer, an advertising secretary, a typesetter, a proofreader, a mental-health-care provider, a substitute teacher, and a book reviewer. In and around the edges of all those jobs I have written poems, stories, and books, books, books.”

“I don't know what I am thinking. But I am alone. I am trapped in the net of the room. In the net of humans. I think maybe I am drowning in the net of humans.”

“When I rode the train west,I went looking for something,but I didn't see anything wonderful.I didn't see anything better than what I already had.Home.”

“Young readers are the most challenging, demanding, and rewarding of audiences. Adults often ask why I write for the younger set. My reply: 'I can't think of anyone I'd rather write for.'”

“While growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, I dreamed of becoming many things: an archaeologist, an ambassador, an actor, an author.”

“The way I see it, hard times aren't only about money,or drought,or dust.Hard times are about losing spirit,and hope,and what happens when dreams dry up.”

“From the time I was ten, I thought of myself as 'good with words,' thanks to a perceptive and supportive fifth grade teacher.”