“The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.”

“He does something to me, that boy. Every time. Its his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.”

“A DEFINITION NOT FOUND IN THE DICTIONARY Not leaving: an act of trust and love,often deciphered by children”

“She leaned down and looked at his lifeless face and Leisel kissed her best friend, Rudy Steiner, soft and true on his lips. He tasted dusty and sweet. He tasted like regret in the shadows of trees ...”

“If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter. ”

“Even death has a heart.”

“For at least twenty minutes, she handed out the story.”

“Tell the story that's been growing in your heart, the characters you can't keep out of your head, the tale story that speaks to you, that pops into your head during your daily commute, that wakes y...”

“I write for the kid in me. . . . Often when Im working on a story, Ill find myself laughing at something my characters have done, or even being surprised at where theyve taken the story. Its as if ...”

“If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another.”