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Certainly working with teens keeps me up to date with language and with certain kinds of thinking. I often feel like I have to go back to that 17-year-old Chris Crutcher, and that forms the core voice. I can draw on teens from 1964 to 2001 to find a part of the voice I need.

I write with teenagers in mind.

I love working with young people which to me is a big kick.

I love working with the young.

I love spending time with young people. I love to hear about what they think. It keeps me young. And they need role models.

A surprising number of teens I meet in rougher schools around the country find refuge in novels and creative writing. It's not always the usual suspects either, the high achievers.

I like writing about teenagers because it's a time of great change and conflict. Up to then, you accept what your parents tell you.

I enjoy seeing young people being interested in what they can do.

I will not compromise on language or content. At 15, people can handle the same language as me, they're just as complicated as me and are very interested in thinking about important questions for the first time.

I write for teens partially to work out whatever it was that I needed to from my own teenage years.