Rebecca Stead
Rebecca Stead
Rebecca Steadis an American writer of fiction for children and teens. She won the American Newbery Medal in 2010, the oldest award in children's literature, for her second novel When You Reach Me...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChildren's Author
Date of Birth16 January 1968
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
age bit home independence positive scary walking
From age nine, my friends and I were on the streets, walking home, going to each other's houses, going to the store. I really wanted to write about that: the independence that's a little bit scary but also a really positive thing in a lot of ways.
allowed freedom kids life
We're allowed as adults to create a life that we like. Kids don't have that freedom.
earrings hanging homemade lovely wall
I would never look a gift horse in the mouth. I've had some lovely homemade earrings and, recently, a wall hanging made in the style of Georges Seurat.
avoid books tend
My books tend to have a lot of questions in them, and they tend to avoid black and white, for lack of a better metaphor.
mostly prefer telling
Mostly what I try to do is build emotion. Only I'd prefer not to do it by telling you about emotion but by pushing that emotion down.
change good kids shorthand time
'Middle school' is used as shorthand for a time when things change. It's a time a lot of kids feel like they don't even have one good friend.
anymore books few fiction kinds loved people robert science wonderful
I loved reading all kinds of books, but I particularly loved books like 'Red Planet' by Robert Heinlein, which very few people read anymore but is a wonderful science fiction story.
favourite james judy kids kinds klein liked paula ray science
I never had a favourite book! I liked all kinds of things - science fiction, so I read Heinlen and Ray Bradbury, and I also liked reading about kids like myself, so I read Judy Blume and Norma Klein and Paula Danzinger and a lot of other writers. I also read James Herriot!
bit cover girls otherwise people personally school shoulders telling
I personally find the ideas that girls need to cover their shoulders in school a little bit strange... when we're telling girls, you know, 'You have to cover your shoulders because otherwise you're a distraction to other people in your class,' probably something is wrong.
advocate agent excites involve job literary love people says though whose
In so many ways, being a literary agent is an irresistible job to me. Not only does it involve all the things I love - being an advocate for others, problem solving, and going to meetings - yes, that's true, I love meetings, though everyone says it's bizarre! - but most importantly, I love working with people whose writing excites me.
I like to write about questions that interest me, not the conclusions I've come to.
felt giant known sort within
I like the idea of a world, even within a big giant city, where you're not anonymous. You have an identity, and that's an identity that's known just sort of by shopkeepers. I felt that as a kid, and I loved it.
home
I have nothing like a writing routine. I sometimes have trouble buckling down to write at home.
I read a whole lot as a child, and, of course, I still read children's books.