Quotes from Lauren Tarshis

The most important advice I can offer is that writing is a craft that you can learn by practicing. If you keep writing, you will improve.

I had learning problems when I was in elementary school, and didn't really start to read well until high school. I never read any of the middle grade classics that were popular when I was young - 'Harriet the Spy', 'Charlotte's Web', 'The Witch of Blackbird Pond', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.

Being in love is one of the most powerful experiences anyone can have. I think that's why we have crushes when we're younger. Maybe it's how we get ready for real love.

Many writers are afraid of writing something bad, so they don't try or give up when their efforts don't lead to a masterpiece right away. If you work at it, you will improve.

In quiet moments, I love to read.

That was how it always was with Colleen: No matter how sad she felt, there was always this little bit of hope - like a speck of glitter caught in your eyelash - that never went away, no matter what.

Sometimes we must all fall out of a tree.

There are plenty of bad people in the world," he said. "Too many to count. But there are good people, too.

Tower of London, where they used to chop off your head if the king didn't like you.

There's no room in a small town for grudges.

SHARK KILLS SECOND BATHER IN NEW JERSEY JULY 7, 1916 SPRING LAKE, NEW JERSEY

He stared at his dog, his beautiful ugly dog who was soaking wet and covered with dirt and grime, whose tongue was hanging out of his mouth. Where had he come from? Zeke licked Dex again. Dex

Dylan had helped Dex get the bed set up, and of course they made it right, the SEAL way. They'd even smiled at each other, the kind of smiles they used to share back when they'd been best friends. It seemed the tornado had broken down that wall that had risen up between them. And

But eleven-year-old Max Rosen was determined to stay alive.

Cars and trucks were everywhere but parked in driveways. They were crushed in the middle of the street, flipped upside down, wrapped around poles. And

The girls smiled and swayed as though Colleen's happiness was their favorite song.

A person has to face up to things. You never solve anything by running away.

In the weeks after the flood, the Humane Society of the United States organized the biggest animal rescue in history. Hundreds of volunteers from all over the country came to New Orleans. They broke into boarded-up houses, plucked dogs and cats from rooftops and trees, and even rescued pigs and goats. Many animals were reunited with their owners. Others were sent to shelters across America to be adopted by new families.

2,668 people are still missing Nearly

There were nine dogs on the Titanic. They stayed in kennels, but their owners could take them out onto the decks for walks. Two Pomeranians and one Pekingese survived with their masters.

He hung up and stood there, his mind spinning. Uncle Benny's words whispered in his head. We'll do what we always do. What they always did. Fight fires. Save people's lives. Yes, that's what they'd do now. The FDNY was the biggest fire department in the world. They were the best. And they would do what they always did.

Mama!" a little boy squealed. "Take me closer!

And they would do what they always did.

Max gripped Zena's hand and they ran for their lives. Their only hope was a nearby swamp. They could hide in the mud and slime, with the snakes and the snapping turtles and the razor-sharp grass. But