Quotes from Jennifer L. Holm

If the butter was bitter in the first place, why would Betty buy more? Wasn't the second batch of butter likely to be bitter, too? Why didn't Betty just return the first batch and buy margarine or olive oil? Or, butter yet (oops—better yet!), go to a different store?

we lied half as much as grown-ups do, we'd be in time-out forever.

Kaarlo, that gold rush is for fools with no sense, can't you see that we're barely making ends meet, isn't it enough that there's a new baby to feed you might as well just shoot your poor mother it'll be the same thug as letting her lose a son to some foolishness." "Do you think Pappa will send Grandmother away? I wish per to Wilbert. Nah, he whispers back, she's stuck here like a cow in the tidelands.

knows that Mrs. Wiederhorn's been a little forgetful since her husband died. Well, a lot forgetful, I'd say, seeing as my father's been dead for years now. She pays us and then offers us more cookies, but we say we

Crackers with a smear of mustard and a tiny bit of ham.

She dies two days later.

Hmmf." I was unimpressed. The last man who had tried to tell me about the merits of homesteading had been a scoundrel and a swine. William Baldt had wanted to marry me in order to gain more land, for a single man in the territory could only claim half the amount of land that a married one could.

We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed. A few people cried. Most people were silent.

He gives me a knowing look. "Everything falls apart when you get old. Believe me, you don't want to know how many times I used to get up during the night to pee.

lyingest liar of them all.

One morning when I was sitting on our front step, William came out of the house. "What excitement are you up to today, Miss Peck?" he asked. I shrugged. Most likely I would be spitting from the roof at passing gentleman with Jebediah Parker, but I thought it best not to say anything. A man who didn't belch at the table was unlikely to approve of spitting.

Papa, look," I said, waving the prize handkerchief in the air. "I won! I won first prize!" "Hmmph," he said, sounding unimpressed. "I'll be sure to have you stitch some flowers on the forehead of my next patient.

Sometimes I wonder if my life would be different if I had a sibling. My parents can be a bit overprotective. I've noticed that the parents of big families are more laid-back.

It's a happy beginning.

This, I thought, was true love. Someone who made you happy without saying a word.