“ A shame really, because putting the right book in the right kid’s hands is kind of like giving that kid superpowers.”

“I took that smile and I put it right where the hole in my chest was. It was better than coffee, or chocolate, or a perfect pirouette. I clutched it and held it tight.”

“There's a beast in all of us, you know,' Jasper said.'No,' Tessa said.'Yes, a monster right inside of us all,' Jasper said.They wondered what theirs looked like. They faced each other and blinked while making faces to try to capture the phantom.”

“Who needs a stupid grampa-loving, book-reading, good-smelling boy who I like to talk to?”

“Sometimes my feelings get so big that I just want to swim out into the darkness. Just jump off the end of the world. Sometimes I want to dig, right down to the bones of everything. Sometimes when you dig, you dig up stuff you might not want to find. But that’s where the good stuff lies.”

“It’s been three daysstill haven’t heard from you.My heart lives underwaterbreathing for you.But you break apartmy tiny heart,giving me no chanceto start something with you.I dove into the poolI dove inhoping to swimnow I’m drowning.”

“Were we all like that? Were we all trying to change how we looked on the outside to match how we felt on the inside? Were we all trying to change how people saw us?”