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It's not surprising to see in my own work, looking back, and in the work of some of my peers, an attention to family. It's nice to write a book that does tend toward significance and meaning, and where else are you sure of finding it?

I really like reading about how families work together.

I write about families. That is who we are.

I do a lot of writing about my family.

My books cover many aspects of daily life through which your children will recognize their own relationships in their families and communities.

Sibling relationships figure in a lot of my books. You don't often see relationships between adult siblings explored in fiction.

Family tends to be one of the recurring themes in my fiction.

I love books about dysfunctional families.

I'm attracted to stories that deal with the family and what it's like to be a member of that family, whether it's together or apart, given the pressures that are put on it by the outside world.

I have a really big family, and pretty much all my work is about my brothers and sisters. I'm the youngest of eight - my mom had seven kids in seven years, and then she had me 11 years later - so I was basically raised by all these teenagers.