Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else's shoes for a while.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

You can have all the talent in the world, but without determination, you won't get very far.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

When life knocks you down, keep getting up.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

When I wrote 'Noughts and Crosses', I was halfway through it when I realised this was very like 'Romeo and Juliet'... as long as you make it your own, and put your own spin on it, I think it's brilliant to use other great work to find your own voice.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

Life isn't about quantity, it's about quality.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

I don't believe in regrets. There are a few things I'd do differently, but I can't go back in time and redo them, however much I might wish to. All I can do is learn from past mistakes and move forward.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

I remember being in a history lesson and saying to my teacher, 'How come you never talk about black scientists and inventors and pioneers?' And she looked at me and said, 'Because there aren't any.'

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

History should belong to all of us, and it needs to include people from different cultural backgrounds. Otherwise, it risks becoming irrelevant to children, who could then become disenchanted with education.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

Books allow you to see the world through the eyes of others.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

There is a saying: 'The child is parent to the adult', which means whatever happens to you as a child or teenager affects the adult you become. You are forged in your history. And fiction is an incredibly important force in shaping children, and that's why fiction needs to be diverse.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

I try to widen the horizons of every child I meet, and part of that is promoting diverse forms, be it graphic novels, stories told in a narrative voice, or more translated books, as well as more diverse writers and more diverse characters.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

I believe we need more culturally diverse books - about disabled characters, though not about their disability, about people with different sexual orientations, or a boy who is a cross-dresser. We need to reflect the diversity of our society.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

I subscribe to the online Urban Dictionary's definition of nerd: 'one whose IQ exceeds his weight'. I'm also keen on the same Urban Dictionary's definition of geek: 'the person you pick on in high school and wind up working for as an adult'. I happily proclaim myself a book nerd/reading geek and proud of it.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

I started reading seriously at seven or eight, books about myths and legends, the Narnia series. By the time I was 11, I had read all the children's books in my local library, so I moved on to 'Jane Eyre.' What I loved about Jane Eyre was that she didn't rely on her looks but her character. She had a spirit nobody could break.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

The best thing about being Children's Laureate has definitely been all the children and teens I've met.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

Shakespeare's 'Othello' was inspired by Cinthio's 'A Moorish Captain'; his 'Hamlet' came from Saxo Grammaticus's 'Amleth.'

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

Books teach children to see the world through the eyes of others and empathise with others. It's about the story.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

Being the Children's Laureate has been educational, sometimes hectic, but most of all, great fun.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

I would like to use stories as a springboard for children to make their own creative responses. I would like to encourage them to express themselves using music, art, film or whatever, and upload it to a website having been inspired by particular stories.

Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman

If a child wants to read 'Twilight' over Middlemarch, they should be encouraged - the important thing is to get them reading in the first place.