“I think in YA there's sometimes a temptation to create heroines who ar...” — Leigh Bardugo Quote

“I think in YA there's sometimes a temptation to create heroines who are infinitely resilient and wise and confident because those are the behaviors we want to see teens embrace and maybe we want to see those things in ourselves.”

“I have degenerative bone disease and I walk with a cane. And when I wrote Six of Crows,' I went out on tour, and I met a lot of readers who would say, 'Oh, I don't know why, but I pictured Kaz as being an old man at first.' And I thought, of course you did, because the only people we see with mobility aids in media and in culture are old.”

“My heroines, more often than not, are the ones who are troubled and resistant.”

“I always found the witches and wicked stepmothers far more interesting than the 'heroines' - at least they actually did something.”

“My parents told me any and every fairy-tale from all around the world. I usually gravitated towards ones with interesting, strong heroines.”