“I’ve stripped my life down,” he told me. “I don’t need much. I have all the company I want to keep right in here.” He shot himself in the head with his fingers. “People don’t understand about the need to live simply. They make appointments all day. They even schedule their own deaths. The first time they’ll have freedom to really be themselves is when they no longer exist. But up here, there’s nothing but me and the sky. A million billion stars.”

American writer and editor

Holly Black is an American writer and editor known for children’s and young adult fiction. She is especially recognized for the Folk of the Air series, her most recent work, and for her long career in fantasy writing. Black is also known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, which she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and for her debut trilogy, Modern Faerie Tales. Her work has earned a Nebula Award, a Newbery Honor, and a Mythopoeic Award. The Spiderwick Chronicles was adapted into a 2008 film and a 2023 television series, which brought her a nomination for the Children’s and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Young Teen Series.