turning the ugly into something beautiful

Kadir Nelson spoke at Books for Young Readers at the Provo library last weekend and I loved his talk about artists turning ugly things into beautiful things. I had never really thought of my writing in this way. I mostly think about it in terms of trying to tell a story that the reader will enjoy, but of course it is true that little bits of my life sneak in, and more often than not, it is the difficult parts that I am using.

Nelson's most recent award winner is WE ARE THE SHIP, a picture ...