Quotes from Rebecca Stead

It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission.

Trying to forget really doesn't work. In fact, it's pretty much the same as remembering. But I tried to forget anyway, and to ignore the fact that I was remembering you all the time.

That's what happens when people take away their love, Bea. It makes you smaller. Sometimes, it makes you disappear.

life is like a trip. A very long one. And what matters most is the people you travel with.

Sometimes your body feels like a cage for all the stuff inside. You paint your nails, braid your hair, and buy the right kind of jeans, but none of it is really about you.

Tab's mom said that when people reached out to hurt your feelings, it was because they secretly felt they deserved to be talked to that way. She said that they had 'long, hard roads ahead' and that you should just wish them well.

People don't want to think about it.' 'I can see why,' I said. 'It makes my head hurt.' 'Still, you did better than most people. You're a pretty smart kid.' I rolled my eyes. 'Gee, thanks.

He nodded like he felt sorry for me and my stupid brain. 'I think that's probably because of your common sense. You can't accept the idea of arriving before you leave, the idea that every moment is happening at the same time, that it's us who are moving—' Enough was enough.

One of the first things Miriam told me about was how to worry. She wanted me to worry for five minutes straight, two times a day. She said I should sit quietly somewhere, maybe with a piece of paper and some colored pencils, and just worry, one time in the morning and once at night (but not right before bed). And if my worry showed up at any other time, like during school or at Angus's house, Miriam said I should tell it, "Go away, and I'll see you later". -Bea

It was at that moment, standing next to her, that I figured out the truth. The truth was that Mom saw it too: the peeling paint, the cigarette butts on the stairs, everything. It soaked into me like water into sand, fast and heavy-making. But I still couldn't apologise for what I'd said. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I couldn't even smile at her.

What's the burn scale?

Good morning!' Mom was standing in front of the stove, making bacon. 'Annemarie, I called your dad last night, and he told me that you have a thing for bacon omelettes.' 'Yum!' Annemarie said. 'That smells great. No wonder I'm so hungry.' I was staring. Mom had serious bed head and her eyes were puffy with sleep. But she was up at seven-thirty in the morning, making us bacon omelettes. I wanted to hug her. But didn't.

The guy is looney,' Belle said thoughtfully, 'but also generally polite. Polite is always worth something.

How did you get to be ten years old?" "One day at a time.

Why don't you and Patrick actually talk to each other?" Tab said. Em looked up. "Are you demented? And say what?

Sheila made it sound simple, like everyone had one real self. But what if I didn't? Or what if my real self was no good? I kept imagining Angelica's face, half like usual, half not working right. Sometimes I felt like that on the inside, like I knew how I wanted to be, but it didn't match up with how I really was.

You are allowed to make mistakes. And to be forgiven.

It's about the kind of love that doesn't ask you to be anyone but who you are.

Dad cooks milk shakes. In the blender.

MISS U MIS U MIS U There's a shortage of S's and only two M's, so the last one is an upside-down W. I fall asleep to the sound of Dad murmuring into the phone behind his bedroom door. In the morning there's a message from Mom: ME TOO PICKLE

But sometimes our veils are pushed away for a few moments, like there's a wind blowing it from our faces. And when the veil lifts, we can see the world as it really is, just for those few seconds before it settles down again. We see all the beauty, and cruelty, and sadness, and love. But mostly we are happy not to. Some people learn to lift the veil themselves. Then they don't have to depend on the wind anymore.

most of the time, people get distracted by little stuff and ignore the big stuff.

so mom got the postcard today

Her lids tremble and her eyeballs look like they might disappear into her head.