Quotes from Lauren Tarshis

But the burns weren't the worst of what that fire did to Dad. It took away his easy smile and booming laugh. It turned him quiet. Some days Dad barely talked at all. He'd get

Killer eyes," he repeated quietly. It was a minute before he started talking again. The guys waited with their tongues practically hanging out. "The beast went underwater, and for a second I thought maybe it'd decided I

But, Danny decided, being scared was better than being numb.

He was covered in syrup, doughnut crumbs, and bacon grease.

Dex was relieved Dr. Gage didn't reveal how they'd met yesterday — with Dex almost getting squashed by Dr. Gage's SUV.

Yes! The Yanks had creamed the Red Sox last night.

Holly was strangely silent. Her head lolled. "Holly!" he screamed. "Holly!" But she didn't open her eyes.

Hitler takes his own life.

how many lies had Maman told Paul over the years?

And a feeling came over him, as if he'd found something he'd lost, something precious. His hope.

She took a deep breath, lifting her chin.

Another cause, and probably more important, was the careless way the city

But at that moment, Danny decided not to think about it — or anything else

Eleanor peeled back the sleeve of her T-shirt to show off a small helicopter tattoo on her shoulder.

But Dewey didn't look at him. He was looking at something downstream. He had a strange look on his face. And then Chet saw it too: a gray triangle sticking up through the water, heading right for Dewey.

a powerful hurricane. In August 2005, their worst predictions came true. Katrina's 125-mile-per-hour winds sent a gigantic wave of water from the Gulf of Mexico into the canals and lakes surrounding New Orleans. All of that water pushed up against the levees, and many of them failed, some crumbling like the walls of sandcastles. Billions of gallons of water gushed into New Orleans. Nearly 1,000 people drowned in the first hours of the flooding.

Tell you what," Dr. Gage said. "Why don't you and your dad come along with me tomorrow?

drums songs weren't for fun. In a noisy battle, the officers couldn't just shout out their orders; their voices would be drowned out by the explosions. It was those different rat, tat, tats that told the men which way to turn, how fast to march, when to load their muskets, and when to shoot.

would practice

But he was fine keeping mostly to himself.

Many are removing trees and bushes and grasses that can catch fire.

Thwack! It sailed through the air and disappeared into the

They're replacing them with plants that don't burn and can stop fires from spreading, like ice plants and aloe.

Colleen had this idea -- a faded, crumpled, smudged idea -- that being nice counted for something.