"I get to whisper to them, "I love you, I see you, I know. I know you're scared, and it's OK to be scared, and if you …"

"People are like, "Well it's not standard English." So what? Standard English is for standard people."

"…And I just remember the pain – the pain of the lost friend but also the pain of meeting a part of myself that I didn…"

"…Young people – especially young men – it’s not that they hate reading, it’s that they hate boredom. So my thing was:…"

"It totally matters to me that teenagers think I'm cool. I mean, teens keep their fingers on the pulse of culture. Whe…"

"I’m proud of young black america. I’m proud of them, even if they are misunderstood. I’m proud of them for using thei…"

"Hip-hop saved me,. It gave me permission to use language in a certain way. It validated my community and my friends. …"

"It's hard to be what you can't see."

"The truths are universal: Every kid knows fear. Every kid knows family and friendship. Loss, love, laughter. Everythi…"

"My uncle used to say that the good books begin with “… and shots rang out.” Shots rang out is a cliché, but what he m…"