“Stones and bones;snow and frost;seeds and beans and polliwogs.Paths and twigs, assorted kisses,We all know who Daddy misses!His two little frogs of girls, that’s who.They know where they are, do you, do you?”

“Lindsey took my father's hand and watched his face for movement. My sister was growing up before my eyes. I listened as she whispered the words he had sung to the two of us before Buckley was born:Stones and bones;snow and frostseeds and beansand polliwogs.Paths and twigs, assorted kisses,We all who knowwho Daddy misses!His two little frogs of girls, that's who.They know where they are, do you, do you?When her eyes closed and they both slept silently together, I whispered to them:Stones and bones; snow and frost; seeds and beans and polliwogs. Paths and twigs, assorted kisses, We all know who Susie misses.....”

“All you have to do is desire it, and if you desire it enough and understand why -- really know -- it will come.”

“Do you miss Susie?"Because it was dark, because Ruth was facing away from her,because Ruth was almost a stranger, Lindsey said what she felt."More than anyone will ever know.”

“Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, "Don't worry, Susie; he has a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world.”

“Do you ever think of her?' she asked.They were quiet again. All the time,' Ruth said. A chill ran down my spine. 'Sometimes I think she's lucky, you know. I hate this place.'Me too,' Ray said. 'But I've lived other places. This is just a temporary hell, not a permanent one.'You're not implying...'She's in heaven, if you believe in that stuff.'You don't?'I don't think so, no.'I do,' Ruth said. 'I don't mean la-la angel wing crap, but I do think there's a heaven.'Is she happy?'It is heaven, right?'But what does that mean?'The tea was stone-cold and the first bell had already rung. Ruth smiled into her cup. 'Well, as my dad would say, it means she's out of this shithole.'~pgs 82-83”

“Learn a language of another country and then you can go to that country: a place where the problems of your family will not follow. A language they do not speak.”