From the beginning of his extremely productive career as a writer, Kotzwinkle has combined considerable success as a writer for young readers with a very wide variety of highly acclaimed novels and short stories for the traditional adult audience. Although he has generally kept these categories separate, he has been adamant about what he feels is an artificial distinction. "Only in recent times have we had a classification called 'children's books' and it isn't a particularly good thing to have," he claims. "Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Tom Sawyer didn't come in that way, and people of all ages were free to read them and find a new piece of their soul." The idea of a bear, one of the most basic of children's toys (e.g. Winnie-the-Pooh and teddy bears), as a fully realized adult who feels as out of place and alienated in adult...