“People in the know say 'The Giver' was the first young adult dystopian novel.” — Lois Lowry

Most people remember being 4 objectively, as if they're seeing a movie of a 4-year-old. But me, if you ask me to think about when I'm 4, I can feel myself being 4, and I am there, looking out through my 4-year-old eyes.

There are those, I think, who are attracted to the glitz of celebrity life. I am not one of them.

In 1952, when I was 15 and living on Governors Island, which was then First Army Headquarters, I encountered the newly-published 'The Catcher in the Rye.' Of course, that book became the iconic anti-establishment novel for my generation.

My mind is always on whatever next project I'm working on.