I like to have a simple workplace.

My goal in the classroom was always to make sure they were having so much fun that they didn't realize they were learning.

I always love it when I hear back from kids who say they discovered Percy Jackson and now wear their learning difference as a badge of honour.

Even if these stories are 3,000 years old, there's still so much about the characters, about the dilemmas, about their understanding of the universe that still resonates. The whole idea of order and chaos, which is really central to the ancient Egyptian understanding of the world, is still very much with us.

Democracy is interactive... It's a constant job of information, education, explanation, listening, and interactive communication.

A large part of the present anxiety to improve the education of girls and women is also due to the conviction that the political disabilities of women will not be maintained.

When girls can get an education and women can work and run businesses or even serve as elected officials, the world benefits.

All the books I was reading as a teenager were about individuals having adventures. So I thought that was what writers were supposed to do: to go out on the road.