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I grew up in Philadelphia.

I write about kids growing up, I write a lot about schools and parents, and all of my experiences with those things have been suburban experiences.

I was born not too far from Minneapolis, so it's nice to come back and visit.

I grew up in North Dakota around Dakota and Ojibwe people, and also small-town people in Wahpeton. Writers make few choices, really, about their material. We have to write about what comes naturally and what interests us - so I do.

I was born in Evanston, Illinois. I spent my elementary and part of my junior high school years in a D.C. suburb. And then I spent my high school years in Minnesota. And then I spent my college years in Colorado. And then I spent some time living in China. And then I spent three years in Vermont before moving down to Nashville.

I lived in Minnesota in a small town.

It just so happens that I was born and raised in Washington. Had I been born in Chicago or San Antonio, the streets and places would have figured into whatever I wrote. Just so happens that it's Washington, D.C.

I was born in New York City but grew up across the Hudson River in Alpine, New Jersey.