Wendelin Van Draanen

“I am a runner. That's what I do. That's who I am. Running is all I know, or want, or care about.”

“I was slipping, man, and it was definetly time to get a grip.”

“I've decided this is all your fault, Ms. Leone. I've run away before, you know, but stowed away or jumped trains or broke into buildings, I just ran away and got caught. But I think all that stuff you told us about the Underground Railroad got lodged in my subconscious, and somewhere inside it gave me the strength or courage or insanity to really get away. So see? This is all your fault.”

“If you really want things to change, you have to get involved. Little strokes fell big oaks, you know.”

“A million dollars sounds like a lot, I know. Especially when you're young. But you can't let money erode your principles or you'll wind up with nothing.”

“It felt like there was a dark spot in my heart. Like a bruise. And it was getting deeper and wider with every lie I told.”

“Now, I know from experience that the trouble with one lie is that it usually takes more lies to cover it up.  And if you don't watch out, you wind up telling lies to cover up the lies that are covering up the original lie. ”

“It's funny how you can think you know someone pretty well, and then something happens or they do something that makes you understand that you didn't really know them at all.”

“Maybe my mother's right. Maybe there is more to Bryce Loski than I know.Maybe it's time to meet him in the proper light.”

“My grandfather stood beside me and looked across the street, too. "No, Bryce," he said softly. "She's the same as she's always been; you're the one who's changed." He clapped his hand on my shoulder and whispered, "And son, from here on out, you'll never be the same again.”

“...and I realized that Garrett was right about one thing- I had flipped.Completely.”

“But in my heart I knew the old Bryce was toast. There was no going back. Not to Garrett or Shelly or Miranda or any of the other people who wouldn't understand. Juli was different, but after all these years that didn't bother me anymore.I liked it.I liked her.”

“So there I was, with the two hottest girls on campus, having lunch. I was "the man", the envy of every other guy in our school.Buddy, I was miserable."-Bryce Loski”

“Karakter seseorang terbentuk sejak kecil, Nak. Pilihan yang kau buat hari ini akan memengaruhi hidupmu sampai kapan pun.”

“And for the first time in my life, I had that feeling. You know, like the world is moving all around you, all beneath you, all inside you, and you're floating.”

“Don't sum up a person based on what you see, or what you don't understand; get to know them”

“I realize something. That wasn't a finish line for me...This is my new starting line.”

“scraps of lovetorn and tatteredfaded, scatteredtrashedthreads of hopefrayed and tangledbroken, mangleddashedbacking, buttonsyarn and battingquilted tenderlywrapped up inthis warm repairmy patchwork family”

“Thank you for helping me turn the page.”

“Words can't fix my life.Words can't give me a family.Words can't do jack.You may be a teacher, Ms. Leone, but face it: You don't know squat.”

“The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life.”

“As much as thinking this upsets me, I'm starting to see that I need the merry-go-round much more than it needs me, and in the end my choice is to hop back on or get left in the dust.”

“Surely, I thought, a few bushes and some dilapidated wood couldn't stop someone's best and brightest blessing! Surely not!”

“Proper lighting is everything, Julianna.”

“And since you know what a tree-climbing weenie I am, I think it's pretty clear that I'm willing to do anything to get her to talk to me. Man, I'll dive after her into a chicken coop full of poop if that's what it takes. I'll ride my bike all the stinkin' way to school for the rest of eternity if it means being with her”

“Maybe it’s time to meet him in the proper light.”

“I'll ride my bike all the stinkin' way to school for the rest of eternity if it means being with her.-Bryce”

“I'd scale that monster sycamore if I could. Right to the top. And I'd yell her name across the rooftops for the whole world to hear.-Bryce”

“But in my heart I knew that just like the new grass, I wasn't strong enough yet to be walked on”

“You got nothin' to lose but your self-respect.”

“HERE LIES THE MYSTERY PISSERP.I.P.”

“I also finally see that a crimson kiss isn't something you can chase, because it's more than just the passionate meeting of mouths. It's a confession. It's the truth your lips whisper to someone you love.”

“Anger is a fuel that can only carry you so far.”

“Sometimes the things we really want are right in front of us. We just don't see them.”

“Aw, he's just you know...entrenched," Matt said. "Gotta adjust to the perspective and deal from there." Then he added, "Not that I'd want him as my dad...."Mike practically sprayed his milk. "Dude! Can you imagine?" Then Matt gave my dad a slap on the back and said, "No way. I'm sticking with my main man here." My mom grinned from across the kitchen and said, "Me too."I'd never seen my father cry. And he didn't exactly sit there bawling, but there were definitely tears welling up in his eyes.”

“It's disturbing how fast weeds take root in my garden of worthiness.They're so hard to pull.And grow back so easily.”

“By the end of that first day, what I'd made was a big mess. But if chaos is a necessary step in the organization of one's universe, that I was well on my way.”

“Julie always tried to stand beside me, or talk to me, or in some other way mortify me.”

“All of a sudden I didn't fit in anywhere. Not at school, not at home...and every time I turned around, another person I'd known forever felt like a stranger to me. Even I felt like a stranger to me.”

“Sometimes a little discomfort in the beginning can save a whole lot of pain down the road.”

“What he did to my heart was sheer, inexplicable, magic.”

“There's nothing like a headstrong woman to make you happy to be alive.”

“It's easy to look back and see it, and it's easy to give the advice. But the sad fact is, most people don't look beneath the surface until it's too late.”

“You want me to be a man,older than you, who goes by the name of Roullard.”

“There’s no winning arguments with your parents, so why get all pumped up over them? It is way better to dive down and get out of the way than it is to get clobbered by some parental tidal wave.”

“I had Flipped.-Bryce Loski”

“Somehow the silence seemed to connect us in a way like words never could.”

“The room fell quiet. And as I read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eight-grade boys, I realized that to me, there had only ever been one boy.”

“I wipe away my tears and nod, because the pain in my leg is nothing compare to the one in my heart.”

“It’s funny to hear priests and nuns argue with each other.”