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
home
I have nothing like a writing routine. I sometimes have trouble buckling down to write at home.
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.
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.
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.
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.
books certain landed package problem terrible titles trouble truth
There's this trouble with books for me because I'm terrible at thinking of titles. The truth is, even with the titles that I've landed on in the end, they always feel wrong. I think it's because of this whole problem of having to package your book in a certain way.
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!
kid lived manhattan parts section west
I try to remember what it was like to be a kid in New York. I lived in different parts of my childhood in Manhattan on the Upper West Side, where 'When You Reach Me' is set, and also in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.
During the week,I'm really focused on writing and output. Sunday is a day when I really try not to write at all.
published suffers time
Every published writer suffers through that first draft because most of the time, that's a disappointment.
best boy corner growing laughing mysterious
There was a boy in my building who was my best friend when I was growing up. There was also a mysterious person on my corner who we called the Laughing Man.
stopping
The wonderful thing about writing fiction is that no one is stopping you. There's no one saying, 'You can't do that.'
embody everybody kinds people prefer
As a reader, I much prefer to read a book where people embody all kinds of ideas and everybody is making mistakes.
anyone familiar knows plenty time
Anyone who's familiar with my writing schedule knows that there is always plenty of time between books for me!