Quotes from Diane Zahler

Boys were so proud - you always had to let them think they were good at things.

My dear, my dearest dust; I come, I come.

Our own difficulties shouldn't blind us to the difficulties of others.

My girl," Master Bouts said, "the rules of human behavior are absurd much more often than they're reasonable.

It was the most beautiful sweet roll Bee had ever seen. A flawless circle, puffy from rising, it was studded with raisins and drizzled with pink icing. She could feel the hunger rake its claws along her stomach lining as she gazed at it.

They didn't speak again but sat in disbelief and wonder as the cookies, made with butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and a dollop of exasperation, slowly cooled on their tray.

He took great pleasure in teasing her; he'd decided that Bee was no name for a person, and that it must just be the first letter of her real name. So every time he came in, he addressed her by a new and awful name that started with B.

Bee had never been so hungry in her life. Oh, she'd been hungry plenty of times. Stomach-growling, eat-a-big-meal hungry. But this was different.

Lemon?" Bee asked. "What is that?" Master Bouts shrugged. "Something that grows in a far-off land, I daresay. See, the lemon is the yellow under the meringue. We can't make lemon, but we can make meringue—when there's a customer who can pay for it.

His bread was lofty, light. If she didn't hold on to the sandwich tightly, she thought it might float away.