“As a person of color, as a woman, as a body moving through this particular space…” — Jacqueline Woodson

I would have written 'Brown Girl Dreaming' if no one had ever wanted to buy it, if it went nowhere but inside a desk drawer that my own children pulled out one day to find a tool for survival, a symbol of how strong we are and how much we've come through.

When I'm feeling frustrated with a story, I have faith that it's going to come. Also, when I first started writing, I wanted to write the stories that were not in my childhood, to represent people who hadn't historically been represented in literature.

By the time I was in fifth grade, I was dreaming of the Pulitzer Prize.

I write for whoever needs to read it.