A children's author on a soapbox is not a pleasant sight but I have become drawn into issues, slightly unwillingly, relating to young people, literacy and youth justice: just look at the number of young people we have locked up in prison, and the uselessness of it.

一个儿童作家站在讲台上发表演讲不是一件令人愉快的事情，但我已经有点不情愿地陷入了与年轻人、文化素养和青年正义有关的问题中:看看我们被关在监狱里的年轻人的数量，就知道了，这些年轻人毫无用处。