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 Read Quote
I suppose I’ve always lived in my own head. I didn’t discover boys till sixth form. Then suddenly it was, ‘Oh! Boys!’ Malorie Blackman Read Quote
Part of my job as Children’s Laureate is to visit schools and talk about my love of books and stories and encourage them all to do it as well – to read, to write, to never be afraid of their own voice. Because we all have something to say. Malorie Blackman Read Quote
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 Read Quote
You can have all the talent in the world, but without determination, you won’t get very far. Malorie Blackman Read Quote
I remember going into a bookshop, and the only book I saw with a black child on the cover was ‘A Thief in the Village’ by James Berry, and I thought, ‘Is this still the state of publishing?’ Then I thought, ‘Either I can whine about it or try to do something about it.’ Malorie Blackman Read Quote