"I owe everything I am and everything I will ever be to books" is a Paulsen quote. He has many strong female characters in his books -- maybe you think he's sexist because many settings take place in the woods/nature/ and deal with survival. But I'm a girl who dreams of living in a log cabin in the woods and love his connection to the natural world. He is not sexist - in many of his books, the male characters' shortcomings are written about - I do think more guys read his books but I don't think he is in any way sexist. (And you shouldn't have gotten in trouble for making that comment - your teacher should have used it as a good discussion starter!)