I Can't Bear To Be

It Reminds Me Of How Grandmother Always Had The Right Costume For Me To Wear. You Wear The Right Outfit And You Feel Like The Person You're Pretending To Be.

You’re My Best Friend, Shmuel,’ He Said. ‘my Best Friend For Life.

I Don't Change The Language For Children Books. I Don't Make The Language Simpler. I Use Words That They Might Have To Look Up In The Dictionary. The Books Are Shorter, But There's Just Not That Much Difference Other Than That To Be Honest. And The Funny Thing Is, I Have Adult Writer Friends [to Whom I Would Say], "would You Think Of Writing A Children's Book?" And They Go, "no, God, I Wouldn't Know How." They're Quite Intimidated By The Concept Of It. And When I Say To Children's Books Writers, Would They Write An Adult Book, They Say No Because They Think They're Too Good For It.

It Occurs To Me That Even Though Zoya And I Are Both Still Alive, My Life Is Already Over. She Will Be Taken From Me Soon And There Will Be No Reason For Me To Continue Without Her. We Are One Person, You See. We Are Georgyandzoya.

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.