Quotes from Shannon Hale

That's the word he'd used - stunning. It's a difficult word to dismiss. She longed to be that word to someone.

She was craving anything real - bad smells and stupid men, missed trains and tedious jobs. But she remembered that mixed up in the ugly parts of reality were also those true moments of grace - peaches in September, honest laughter, perfect light.

Boyfriend #8] He left for an internship in Guatamala, a step towards his future career in international affairs. They both cried at the airport. He returned 6 months later and, didn't call. Last year, Jane heard that Bobby, 'Robert' now, was running for Congress. At a recent polling, he wasn't doing so hot in the 30-something-jilted-female demographic.

This was the part where Charlotte, heroine, remembered she was a twenty-first-century woman and a mother. This was Charlotte saying, Hell no!

I wish stories were kinder to their characters," Maddie said. "But I guess trouble is more interesting to read about.

Guilt is the hyena that'll lunge from behind and hamstring you.

giving into despair was like eating poisonous berries to keep from feeling hungry.

We found it!" Charlotte yelled, as they ran back through the house. "We found it, we found it!" Eddie, Mr. Mallery, and Colonel Andrews came from separate directions, converging in the front hall. Miss Charming was hopping up and down, her bosom nearly rising to slap her own forehead.

I told everyone you didn't go poof, but they just looked at me funny," said Maddie. Cedar shook her head. "You said, 'Tiny crow crowned unconfused with a cloud.'

I'll be lucky if I can do as well as you when all this's done, just a bit out of breath, a bit bruised and scratched, a bit wiser and sadder for it all.

Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat. The world was as dark as eyes closed, but perhaps the goats could smell dawn seeping through the cracks in the house's stone walls. Though still half-asleep, she was aware of the late autumn chill hovering just outside her blanket, and she wanted to curl up tighter and sleep like a bear through frost and night and day.

Reading a book is like going on a great journey. You don't know what'll happen, but something is bound to change. And for me, that change has always been good.

My advice: If you every have the chance to change the world, don't hesitate. Leave your great big mark.

even if things were broken right now. Sometimes it was the cracks that let the light in.

She felt really alone now. But here's the thing- suddenly she felt as though she belonged inside the aloneness, and that feeling made her whisper aloud, "I never have before. I've never felt at home with myself.

Why did everyone else seem fine but I felt as if I were living in a cage I'd outgrown two shoe sizes ago?

She read like a woman drinks water after nearly dying of dehydration.

Look no farther than your hand, make a choice and take a stand

Colonel Andrews was fair-haired with a decent set of shoulders and a very ready smile. He could not seem more pleased to see her, bowing without removing his gaze from her face. 'What a pleasure. A very, pleasant pleasure, indeed.' The way his tone slid over his words gave him a delightful, roguish appeal that made Jane want to kiss him on the spot. Or the lips. Whichever was closer.

Hope had been that thing with burnt feathers buried in her soul, but now it was waking up, stretching, beating fresh wings in the ashes.

He wildly combed his hair with his fingers. "I can't bear to be out there with you right now, all those indifferent people watching you, admiring you, but not really caring. Not as I do." Jane: (hopeful) Really? Jane: (practical) Oh, stop that.

Listen to this," said Maddie. "Cerise Hood. Cedar Wood. Cerise Hood. Cedar Wood. Cedar, you and Cerise have to be friends or your names will get mad and just march right off you!

That's what I'm trying to tell you. You're irresistible." "I am not." "I'm not happy about it. You really are the most irritating person I've ever met. I'd managed to avoid any women of any temptation whatsoever for four years—a very easy task in Pembrook Park. Things were going splendidly, I was right on track to die alone and unnoticed. And then …

Becky, are you studying conversational Yiddish?