“This is my first real memory of James. In every memory before that, hes just a flash of color, a warm body with a blurred face, a comforting voice begging me not to die. When he planted himself bet...”

“He stabs his fingers through his drying hair and resumes his pacing. You think I dont know this went really fast? I didnt plan for this to happen. Hell, I didnt even know if youd let me talk to you...”

“Two babies in little more than a year and a half. Knockout Jimmy was forced to give up boxing and take a job in the paper mill. It broke him, and in turn, he broke us all.”

“James Knockout Jimmy OBrien, Granite Falls very own boxing legenda title he held until a young groupie poked holes in the condom she made him wear for protection.My brother was born nine months lat...”

“I feel his intense gaze skimming my face and force myself to look him in the eye. This time, when he leans closer, I know what he wants. He traces my jaw with his fingertips, then moves lower to my...”

“Selfish as this sounds, I meant what I said earlier, he finally says.I try to remember what he said, but everything is kind of a blur. Which part? The Im glad you came tonight part.So Im not imagin...”

“They will hate you if you are beautiful. They will hate you if you are successful. They will hate you if you are right. They will hate you if you are popular. They will hate you when you get attent...”

“But even when I stop crying, even when we fall asleep and I'm nestled in his arms, this will leave another scar. No one will see it. No one will know. But it will be there. And eventually all of th...”

“Cinderella was such a dork. She left behind her glass slipper at the ball and then went right back to her step-monster's house. It seems to me she should have worn the glass slipper always, to make...”

“The obscenities of this country are not girls like you. It is the poverty which is obscene, and the criminal irresponsibility of the leaders who make this poverty a deadening reality. The obsceniti...”

“You and me, baby girl, we're too jaded. We just want mind-blowing sex with someone who knows we're fucked up and accepts it.”

“In this world, if you raise objections saying, my mother-in-law harasses me. My father-in-law harasses me, then there is no end to it. Instead, just put up a sign that says, no objection whatsoever...”

“I love you, and it's not the kind of love that wavers. It's the scary kind that doesn't fade. I look at you, and I see not just everything I want for my life, but everything I am, because you took ...”

“Me pregunt si no habra personas destinadas a encontrarse fuera cules fueran las decisiones que tomasen, si esa leyenda que hablaba de un hilo rojo que conecta a dos almas gemelas no sera verdad.”

“Who loves you, Warren Valentine?" She did. I want Lilla to know that kind of love. The kind of love that never leaves or abandons.”