A biography for Wendelin Van Draanenhasn’t been written yet.
“The room fell quiet. And as I read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eight-grade boys, I realized that to me, there had only ever been one boy.”
“I've run my whole life - for more than exercise, for mental health.”
“Sometimes I get so caught up in my own problems that I forget how amazing the world is.”
“I had liked him for all the wrong reasons.”
“What sort of person you grow into should not be achieved by default, and often that's exactly what happens to kids. I see literature as a method of guidance, information, and contemplation, and consider it the greatest compliment possible when a reader tells me that a book of mine really made him/her think.”
“Don't even try to talk to me when I'm watching the moon. That's my moon, baby.”
“Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss...." He turned to me. "But every once in a while, you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare.”
“Writing is work. It takes a lot of contemplation, concentration, and out-and-out sweat. People tend to romanticize it, that somehow your work appears by benefit of some mystical external force. In reality, to be a writer, you have to sit down and write. It's work, and often it's hard work.”
“If you are interested in writing, get out and live your life! Do a lot. See a lot. Keep your eyes and ears open. Pay attention to the different ways people speak. Read lots of different kinds of books. And then try writing in different voices and styles - don't be afraid to experiment.”
“It's to have people see her instead of her condition. That's all that anybody with a disability wants. Don't sum up the person based on what you see, or what you don't understand; get to know them.”