K. A. Applegate Quotes

One of the reasons I love writing for middle graders, besides their voracious appetite for books, is their deep concern for fairness and morality.

- K. A. Applegate

When I was a child, going to a circus with wild animal acts was a rite of passage. These days, it's an act of complicit cruelty.

- K. A. Applegate

What do we lose without wild animal acts at the circus? Absolutely nothing, except the opportunity to be haunted and heartbroken.

- K. A. Applegate

I hate to witness animals in captivity - or see circus elephants paraded down the streets. When animals are caged, it's a loss of what they are.

- K. A. Applegate

We know about the socially complex lives of elephants: how they communicate, how they bond, how they even seem to grieve. We have ethologists in the field and activists on the ground to thank for that knowledge.

- K. A. Applegate

That penetrating gaze, that intelligence; it's hard not to be anthropomorphic when you're looking at a great ape - at any primate - but especially with gorillas. They're just so magnificent.

- K. A. Applegate

I grew up in an affluent suburban world and never worried about money until I'd grown up and found wonderfully original ways to screw up my life.

- K. A. Applegate

Stan is a rescue Chihuahua mix. He was the role model for Bob, the dog in 'Ivan.' The drawings in the book look precisely like Stan.

- K. A. Applegate

I tend to write short, brief snippets - I lean toward the chamber music end as opposed to the symphony end of things.

- K. A. Applegate

I live in a high-rise apartment building, so I just have two cats. They're both pound kitties. One of them, Dick, is an evil, foot-biting cat. When I write a tiger morph, I'm always imagining Dick.

- K. A. Applegate

I was writing at a really young age, but it took me a long time to be brave enough to become a published writer, or to try to become a published writer. It's a very public way to fail. And I was kind of scared, so I started out as a ghost writer, and I wrote for other series, like Disney 'Aladdin' and 'Sweet Valley' and books like that.

- K. A. Applegate

I really love writing, but I am very easily distracted: my two cats fighting, a rainbow, a TV show... I have to use every trick to keep myself at the computer.

- K. A. Applegate

One of my first paid gigs was writing psychology quizzes for 'YM,' a monthly teen magazine like 'Seventeen.'

- K. A. Applegate

I was sure I wanted to grow up to be either a veterinarian or a writer. In fact, I worked for a vet during high school, doing everything from cleaning cages to assisting in surgery.

- K. A. Applegate

When we have financial struggles, kids are so much more aware of things than we want them to be.

- K. A. Applegate

I think most writers will say that at the start of each book they think, 'I'm not sure I can do this.' But eventually, you reach a magical point where the story suddenly becomes real to you, and you become totally invested in it.

- K. A. Applegate

I think having imaginary friends is an amazing coping mechanism. It's pretty wonderful, and it makes a lot of sense to me.

- K. A. Applegate

I think all writers write from the time they're really young, and you just start asking the question, 'What if?'

- K. A. Applegate

I think younger readers connect so readily to animal characters because they share a certain vulnerability, particularly when it comes to adult humans, who can be a rather unpredictable lot.

- K. A. Applegate

I grew up with a menagerie of dogs, cats, gerbils - not to mention three younger siblings.

- K. A. Applegate

Hunger and homelessness aren't things we always want to talk about.

- K. A. Applegate

I think we have a real obligation when we do have animals in captivity to understand their needs and to care for them as well as we can.

- K. A. Applegate

It occurred to me that a food drive would be a natural way to talk to kids about hunger, which so many of them simply aren't aware of.

- K. A. Applegate

I love any excuse to come to New York - when it's not February.

- K. A. Applegate

I think I was 9, and my mom ordered them for me from a catalogue. They bred like crazy, and I was selling gerbils all around Michigan. They wrote a story about me in the local newspaper.

- K. A. Applegate

At the end of the day, I'd love to see children stop begging their parents to go to the circus. That's what would make me most happy.

- K. A. Applegate

As a species, we can at times be dimwitted and cruel. But we're also capable of learning.

- K. A. Applegate

Gorillas may seem terrifying because of their bodies, but they are really magnificent and very gentle.

- K. A. Applegate

I've got to believe I'm the first person to win the Newbery who has written a Harlequin romance!

- K. A. Applegate

I hope kids feel gratitude for what they do have.

- K. A. Applegate