“One day, as Sarita tended to the wash, Gemma played in the garden. She was a knight, you see, with a sword fashioned out of wood. Most formidable, she was, though I didn't quite know how formidable...”

“But we can't go back. We can only go forward.”

“I run after her, not really giving chase. Im running because I can, because I must.Because I want to see how far I can go before I have to stop.”

“I know because I read...Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating.”

“To those who will see, the world waits.”

“I can see his pain, see it in the way he runs his fingers through his hair, over and over, and I understand what it costs him to hide it all.”

“Some experiences are universal. A girl is a girl whether she lives in West Omaha or Sweet Valley. Books are often far more than books.”

“A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.”

“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,And all the sweet serenity of books”

“Reading a book is an intimate experience that can change people's lives in profound ways. It also changes the life of its author.”

“There was a day when writers actually read," he grumbles. "They could quote Keats and Socrates. Now anyone with a keyboard and a fifth-grade education can call themselves a writer.”

“Every story is a ride to some place and time other than here and now. Buried in an armchair, reclined on a couch, prostrate on your bed, or glued to your desk, you can go places and travel through ...”