I think about her words a lot when approaching writing for kids. I think about how so often publishing prioritizes "issue books" and how every single person who wants to do graphic novels for kids are encouraged to make it a contemporary about bullying or whatever, and how this gets framed as hypotheticals and discussion in a misguided attempt to foster empathy for children who do not go through the issues du jour.
I remember that the last thing I wanted to read as a kid was American Born Chinese. my very well meaning librarian gave it to me, and quite honestly, my first thought was "wow, I hate this art, I want to draw better." When I finished it to return to the library, the lingering feeling was a shrug, eyeroll, and "I guess." Maybe I was too much of an edgelord. But it was just not for me, the last thing I wanted to read about was race stuff presented in such a way that was almost pleading for someone like me to engage with it. The narrative felt so cringey and desperate. What I really wanted to do was devour every volume of manga CLAMP had put out, or Fuyumi Soryo, or Rumiko Takahashi. The work felt so freeing, so liberated from the white gaze, any attempt at engaging with "this is what it MEANS TO BE ASIAN IN AMERICA". I had to deal enough with "this is what it means to be Asian in America" on a daily basis, why did I want it in my fiction, too?