Quotes from Barry Lyga

A guy next to me sees the massive bruise on my arm. "God, what a wuss! You got bruised from playing dodge ball?" I look at him, and I realize that I don't know him. I don't even recognize him from walking through the halls or assemblies. I couldn't tell you what grade he's in or what classes he takes. So why does he even bother? Why does he even bother being mean to me?

Hell is being alone.

Howie: "What if the whole thing was just an accident?" Jazz: "And what? Accidentally cut off three fingers postmortem? 'Oops, oh no, my girlfriend just died! Clumsy me, in trying to perform CPR, I chopped off some fingers! Guess I'll take them with me…Oh, darn, where did that middle finger go?

Au contraire, mein Freund.

All I have to do is wake up in the morning and go to bed at night, Jazz. Everything else is optional.

That's what I thought I was. A stalker of stalkers. A predator preying on predators.

Any man worth having will wait for his woman to be ready. How can I not return the favor?

He wondered if all kids-if normal kids-had this moment of epiphany, this sudden sensation of understanding that their parents weren't gods, weren't even kings. They were just people.

Popular culture woefully underprepares us for actual therapy.

Ginny Davis—poor, dead Ginny—had lent Connie a set of yoga DVDs that looked like they'd come from the ancient 1990s.

You can never completely escape your DNA.

I just need a second to collect myself. Just a —listen to me!— —fucking ruined my life!— Just a second.

Less than I want. More than I deserve.

She strokes my cheek. "Don't hate yourself, sweetheart. It gets you nothing. It gets you nowhere.

According to the report, Jane Doe stood no more than five foot one—when standing was still possible. A killer's dream victim. You couldn't custom-order one better.

Life amuses me, Jasper. Until it don't no more." He grinned. "When you're a happy guy, you find amusement in all kinds of places. Even in here.

Stop what?" Howie demanded. "Stop loving you, Jazz? I wish I could quit you, but I can't. Someday, we'll run off to New York and get married, the way God intended it." Despite himself, Jasper cracked a grin. "Sorry, man my nips only go out about this far." He mimed a quarter inch. "Oh, well, in that case, nice to know ya…

Like that. It's all right. It's not all right. It's right.

Mom's already dead!" I yelled at him. "Who the hell do you think you're saving?" And he just gave me his Sad, Tired look. It's one of the three he's got, the other two being Pissed Off and Blised Out on ESPN.

To fool people, you have to work with their prejudices instead of against them.

I think, "I can do this. I think I can do this. I think I can make it through the summer. One last summer. That's not so bad, right?" In bed, the voice says nothing, but its silence tells me everything.

Jazz closed his eyes.

fail fast and move on

opposed to another. Timing don't matter.