“Words were so puzzling. Present should mean a present just as attack should mean to stick tacks in people.”

“She means well, but she always manages to do the wrong thing. She has a real talent for it.”

“Problem solving, and I don't mean algebra, seems to be my life's work. Maybe it's everyone's life's work.”

“He seemed grown-up, compared to the boys at school, and although he was not handsome, or even particularly good-looking—there were still some scars on his face from the skin trouble he had when he was younger—his face was agreeable because it was so. . . . What was the word? Kind, perhaps. Or gentle. But strong, too. He was genuinely glad to see all of Sue’s family, and when Sue entered the room and he helped her on with her coat, Jean thought he acted as if her sister was someone precious to him.”

“I had a very wise mother. She always kept books that were my grade level in our house.”

“Didn't the people who made those license plates care about little girls named Ramona?”

“He was dressed as if everything he wore had come from different stores or from a rummage sale, except that the crease in his trousers was sharp and his shoes were shined.”