“It was amazing what an hour with her sketchpad could do for her mood. She was sure that the lines she drew with her black marker were going to save her years of worry lines in the future.”

“She felt just like that girl in that book with the letter A on her chest. Only her A signified Alone. She was an outcast, cast out by her own choices, an outsider with a pretty face. Like a rose, s...”

“In her experience, there were only two kinds of guys: the ones into sports and the ones into video gaming. It seemed guys had to be obsessed with something, whether it was watching a game or playin...”

“He was like her favorite type of candy, she realized, a bit sour at first but all sweetness in the long run. Admittedly . . . that tartness was part of the allure all along.”

“I figured it is always better to be unpopular by your own choice.”

“He was highly spoken of, everybody knew; but nobody knew who had spoken highly of him”

“Pioneering is never done in front of cheerleaders urging on a roaring grandstand of popular approval.”

“Students view any teacher who does not bury them under work as some sort of mentally impaired kitten to be kicked aside.”

“It is said, in a fire, everyone runs away from it save for the fireman who run towards it. When dealing with students, be the fireman.”

“Openness is something any teacher strives to instill in his or her students.”