"They’re a 1970’s California band with great haircuts. My mother used to play me this song when we drove to school every day. It’s the only CD we had in the car, so I heard it every morning for two or three years on repeat. It reminds me of my childhood. The melodies in this song are so incredible, and I feel like they subconsciously inspired me a lot."

"When I graduated from high school, I worked at a video store in Philadelphia with an extensive selection of international films. La promesse became one of my first favorites because of the real, raw quality of the acting and the Dardenne brothers’ brave and unflinching look at racism and prejudice. When I rewatched the film recently, it felt especially meaningful given the ongoing plight of migrants around the world today."

"I’ve had Whitman’s voice in my head since I discovered him as a teenager. I return to him again and again: “Read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem.” Yes, please."

"Reading this novel is like going back to a life I didn't have, but one that feels eerily familiar, as a teenager in high school. There's such a force in her writing, which is the force of Novak—she looks like a sweet person on the outside, which she is, but inside she is a tornado of passion and strength enough to crush the planet with her pinky finger."