“It was at this time that she entirely gave up on reading.The covers of books looked like coffins to her, either shabby or ornate, and what was inside them might as well have been dust.”

“His soul,' she would say, 'picked mine up and we flew.' And to those who gave her a disbelieving look, she would insist. 'Have you never touched someone and felt them? Felt what was inside of their body?' Only a few would know what she was talking about.”

“I saw her insides.”“Her insides? She got hurt?”“Ew, no. That would have been cool though. I mean her insides, like what she was thinking on the inside of her brain.”

“Many times I have learned that, you never judge a book by its cover. Like people, it is the inside that counts.”

“Being a writer, I'd never judged a book by its cover, but I suppose that the way a book carried itself gave you a bit of an insight on what was on the inside.”

“Before she realized he was next to her, he had placed his hands over hers on the countertop, then hooped his fingers through hers. Gretel looked up at him, so startled she might as well have been shot.'I just wanted to wake you up', he said.Which is exactly what he did. One look at him and her heart was racing. One look, and whatever had been before was all over.”