There Is Cruelty In The World Eliza,

(j)ust Because Your Version Of Normal Isn't The Same As Someone Else's Version Doesn't Mean That There's Anything Wrong With You.

I Started Reading Dickens When I Was About 12, And I Particularly Liked All Of The Orphan Books. I Always Liked Books About Young People Who Are Left On Their Own With The World, And The Four Children's Books I've Written Feature That Very Thing: Children That Are Abandoned By Their Families Or Running Away From Their Families Or Ignored By Their Families And Having To Grow Up Quicker Than They Should, Like David Copperfield - Having To Be The Hero Of Their Own Story.

Children's Book Writers Tend To Feel Quite Superior, And Adult Writers Tend To Feel They Wouldn't Know How To Write A Children's Book - Which Might Surprise You Because I Think A Lot Of People Think It's The Other Way Around.

What Exactly Was The Difference? He Wondered To Himself. And Who Decided Which People Wore The Striped Pajamas And Which People Wore The Uniforms?

The First Thing He Noticed Was How Quiet It Was. This Was Nothing Like The Kind Of Quiet He Heard When He Woke Up In The Middle Of The Night After A Bad Dream. When That Happened, There Were Always Strange, Unidentifiable Sounds Seeping Into His Room From The Tiny Gaps Where The Windowpanes Weren't Sealed Together Correctly. At Those Moments He Could Always Tell There Was Life Outside, Even If All That Life Was Fast Asleep. It Was A Silence That Wasn't Silence At All.