“I'm second string to a true, actual, just-moved-here new girl. Mackenzie's from Minnesota, says her O's in a really weird way, and already has more friends than I do.”

“It's not like I'm actually wishing for more dead cheerleaders. I'm just saying, if someone has to go..."Tod snorted. "I like her."-Emma”

“I figure the more people think I'm just mildly weird, the less likely they are to know how weird I really am.”

“Young friends, whose string-and-tin-can phone extended from island to island, had to pay out more and more string, as if letting kites go higher and higher. They had more and more to tell each other, and less and less string. The boy asked the girl to say "I love you" into her can, giving her no further explanation. And she didn't ask for any, or say "That's silly," or "We're too young for love," or even suggest that she was saying "I love you" because he asked her to. Instead she said, "I love you." The words traveled through the long, long string. The boy covered his can with a lid, removed it from the string, and put her love for him on a shelf in his closet. Of course, he never could open the can, because then he would lose its contents. It was enough just to know it was there.”

“Everyone says I'm like the girl next door...Y'all must have really weird neighbors”

“Why are you standing here, Charlie Brown?""I'm waiting for that little red-haired girl to walk by... I'm going to say hello to her and ask her how she's enjoying her summer vacation, and just sort of talk to her... You know...""You'll never do it, Charlie Brown... You'll panic...""Besides that, she's already walked by!”