“Dressing badly has been a refuge much of my life, a way of compelling others to engage with my mind, not my physical presence. Page. 283”

“Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society.”

“I have come to believe that in order to thrive, a child must have at least one adult in her life who shows her unconditional love, respect, and confidence.”

“[T]he more critical lesson I learned that day is still one too many kids never figure out: don't be shy about making a teacher of any willing party who knows what he or she is doing.”

“I couldnt even tell if I had any sadness of my own, because I was so full of Abuelitas sadness.”

“Many of the gaps in my knowledge and understanding were simply limits of class and cultural background, not lack of aptitude or application as I feared. Page 135”

“If you want to be happy, work with all your heart.”

“I do my best thinking at night when everyone else is sleeping. No interruptions. No noise. I like the feeling of being awake when no one else is.”

“I feel like Ive been split open and stuffed with sunshine.”

“There comes a time in your life when you have to choose between giving up and staying strong, when situations will try to predict your fate, when friends will depart from you and your echo will be ...”

“Contrary to what we usually believe, moments like these, the best moments in our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing timesalthough such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have wor...”

“Challenges in life can either enrich you or poison you. You are the one who decides.”

“The only person who needs to know about failure is yourself.”

“I have tried every diet to lose weight. When you restrict yourself, you're setting yourself up for failure.”

“We've all experienced those days when we feel like an absolute failure. It's a normal feeling when things don't go as exactly planned. And, when we feel like that, it's challenging to think of your...”