“'Gathering Blue' was a separate book. I wanted to explore what a society might become after a catastrophic world event. Only at the end did I realize I could make it connect to 'The Giver.'”

“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 ico...”

“It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere.”

“I feel sorry for anyone who is in a place where he feels strange and stupid.”

“The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without colour, pain or past.”