Quotes from Maureen Johnson

They found all the pot at the crime scene, so the sale had gone through. There's no reason for anyone to get killed over a little bit of pot that no one even bothered to take.

Oh, the ongoing love affair between hair and mouths. Hair always goes for the mouth. The mouth opens, and hair says, "I'm going in! I'm going in!" like a manic cave diver.)

The view out the window was too much—the whoosh through the tunnel, the bright subway ads flashing by, taunting her with offers for travel insurance, human-sized pictures of chocolate bars . . . all the flotsam and jetsam of life. Numbers and houses and futures and food. Why did all this stuff have to fly into her face? Who needed it all? Why go this fast?

Some people got lucky, and some people made their own luck.

Good stuff! [Knud] said. All organic, of course! All fresh! We take care of the earth here! You like smoked herring? You will. Of course you will! I work in iron, though I have also done some of these wood carvings. All of my work is based on traditional Danish art. I am a Viking! Eat!

You could make something amazing out of something awful.

Yes. This was home. This home welcomed her as she was, which was unusual in her experience. It was also, and more familiarly, the place where she had to tell the biggest lies.

Stevie was pleased to see that breakfast was being served, and soon had a plate filled with pancakes, bacon, and sausage. Nate and Janelle got the same, but Janelle also accepted the cup of fruit, because she cared about things like balanced meals.

She pulled out her earbuds, leaking music out into the art pavilion.

Money should never stand in the way of learning.

There will be children here tomorrow," Nate said. "Children. With their little child fingers." "Child fingers?" "I'm saying we won't be safe anymore. This other counselor better stop being sick really quick.

That's when Steve bent down and kissed her.

Nate poked her with the toe of his sneaker. "This is a David thing," he said. "Obviously." She did not reply. "Romance seems fun," he added. "Don't." "I'm not.

Barlow Corners was the perfect American small town, unveiling the perfect American small-town statue of their own local Revolutionary War hero.

It was certainly true that Todd had been a reckless driver. Teenage boys often were, especially when they'd had a few beers. And what teenage boy didn't have a beer now and again? Things happen. Besides, no one knew for sure, and no one would ever know for sure.

I want to follow him. I want to go where his show is and just lie on the sidewalk outside so he can trip over me. Okay? That's how pathetic I am now. You should be thrilled. I

Meet my dead dad, he replied.

Schools may be famous for many things: academics, graduates, sports teams. They are not supposed to be famous for murders.

We get inflamed, I guess, when people come back and try to make something of the case. It's like we heal and then the wound opens again. It was hard enough for me, but Allison lost her sister. It doesn't matter that it was in 1978.

You don't know that," he said. "I want to eat my meat in my room with the lights off." "As a writer, are those really the words you want to use?" Stevie asked.

The Nine lived and worked on top of one another. Between changing backstage, the house, and the romances, they had seen each other in every stage of undress. There was nothing strange about having visitors when you were in the bath.

the confidence of ten mediocre men.

He wanted me to make a plan for my life, and he wanted me to stop hanging out with deadbeats. That's what he called my friends.

Scripts are totally different," Nate said. "Scripts are . . . they're like an X-ray of a book. Just the bones. The words people say and the things they do.