Quotes from Margaret Peterson Haddix

I like the fact that kids are willing to be imaginative and go along with me when I'm telling strange tales.

Amazing, Yetta thought. Back home I couldn't have chosen my own husband. And here I'm thinking about choosing presidents, governors, mayors, laws...

I wished I'd known weeks ago that we didn't have to be chaperoned. I remembered my old daydreams: the prince and I, alone together, cuddling and whispering... I probably would have wised up and brocken the engagement sooner.

Sometimes you do your very best and you lose anyway.

But Mother, I don't want to go. It's just that...I have to. I can't spend the rest of my life hiding in the attic. [...] I don't want to be a burden[...]I want to do something with my life. Figure out ways to help other third kids. Make—make a difference in the world.

And Nedley started saying,'Shut Up!Quit that! And i knew it really meant something to him. So I asked for his help,Mark said. Don't tell the story like that, Nedley laughed. What he said was 'Quit pretendin you're a bad guy I need your help, and I need it now!

We will not be stupid girls. We will not be powerless girls. We will not be useless girls

Knowledge isn't evil, in and of itself. It's what people choose to do with their knowledge that makes the difference. I think it matters what you want knowledge for . And what you're willing to sacrifice to get it.

But it'd be nice to have someone who cared about me, someone I could talk to about anything, someone who'd tell me I was really special.

To quote a famous philosopher revered in my time 'But this is no different from regular life. When have you ever known what's going to happen in the future?' Wait a minute, Jonah thought. I said that. Back at Westminster, with Katherine. Does that mean I'm going to be a famous philosopher in the future? Does that mean I'm going to be revered? There wasn't time to ask.

There was a law against Luke.

Ah, jeez... She really is a cheerleader.' And it seemed suddenly that this was true- not because she was an airhead or a hottie or a nonjock, but because she could throw herself so wholeheartedly into someone else's cause, because she could care so much and try so hard from the sidelines.

The truth is, time travel is hard, and people are lazy.

Does FBI mean Federal Bureau of Idiots?

want to change history?" Luke made a stab at humor.

saw the first tree shudder and fall, far off in the distance. Then he heard his mother call out the kitchen window: "Luke! Inside. Now.

Mother came over and gave Luke's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before turning back to the stove. They had defied the Government once, with Luke. That had taken all the defiance they had in them. Maybe more.

You bite off more than you can chew, 'course you're going to choke. One bite at a time. And that goes for thinking things, too, not just food.

Oh, Myr, he chokes out. I hate having to ask this of you... He glances towards the car again, and I crouch down in the shadows, hoping it's too dark for him to see whether the window is open or closed. The woman pats his arm, cradling her hand against his elbow. You know I'd do anything for you and Hil, she says. I like her voice. It's throaty and rich. You'd do anything? my father repeats numbly. Even now? After -? Even now, the woman says firmly.

Unlike my mother, my father does not cry quietly. His wails roll out like a wave of pain, and I scramble to roll up my window. My mother cannot hear that. I cannot bear to hear it myself. I am not used to my father's crying. I've had no time to harden my heart against him.

Some things just are. They can't be changed or undone or fixed.But people-people can heal. Even from events they believe are unendurable.

It's like I'd been walking a tightrope with a big safety net underneath me, but I never really thought about the net until someone took it away. And then every single step scared me to death.

Because, he said in an even voice, you're used to winning, so you don't even think about how, every time there's a game, both sides get that 'rah, rah, team' speech from their coaches both sides hear 'you're the best!' 'You've got to win!' 'You're the greatest!' But half of the people playing that game are going to walk away losers. Half!

I wasn't asking anything about God, Jonah complained. Yeah, you kind of were, JB said. If there is fate, who else would control it?