Who was your childhood hero?
Happily, I had lots of childhood heroes. I worshiped the librarian at the public library who allowed me to check out as many books as I wanted at a time (the official limit was four at a time. But she waived it for me). Another hero was my second grade teacher who read aloud to the class every day after lunch. Mrs Lindemann, who lived across the street from us, was also a hero to me: she let me borrow books from her home library and taught me how to bird watch. She listened to my stories. Heroes to me, all of them. What was your favourite book (s) when you were younger?
I was a kid who loved to read. I read everything I could get my hands on. I didn't have one favorite book. I had lots of favorite books: The Borrowers by Mary Norton, Paddington by Michael Bond, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Stuart Little by EB White, A Cricket in Times Square, all the Beverly Cleary books. The list goes on and on.
Did you read a lot as a child and do you still read children's books now?
I was a tremendous reader as a child and I am still a big reader. I read a couple of books a week. About 80 percent of what I read is contemporary literature for adults. The other 20 percent is made up of non-fiction and children's books. What was the last book you had recommended to you and what children's book would you recommend to us?
I am laughing as I am typing this answer because I just realised that I am always the one forcing other people to read books (ie. recommending them). It's not often that someone collars me. I collar them first. In any case, the last book someone insisted that I read was The Guernsey Potato Peel Literary Society. I loved it. And what children's book would I recommend? The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes. A delight for readers of any age.
What advice would you give to your 10-year-old self?
Oh, I love this question. I would tell myself not to worry so much, and not to be so afraid. What would you be if you hadn't been a writer?
This is the job for me. I cannot imagine doing anything else. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have found what I am supposed to do and to get to do it.

If you could travel in time, where would you go first?
First? I get to go more than one time period? Um. First would be to back to Central Florida in the 1970s – to be on a sun-warmed dock on a lake on a summer day. How does it feel to be longlisted for the Guardian children's fiction prize?
It is really, truly, a thrill. I am just thrilled.