“For a bookworm like Mother, a Brontë novel sister was better than a biological one.”

“In fiction, beauty was run-of-the-mill.”

“Choosing between day and night. Edgar and Heathcliff.”

“At seven, I didn't insist on my version of the world.”

“We are out sisters' keepers.”

“The mother was holding a baby, had a stroller with what looked like twin girls around three, and had a five-year-old boy who was running around the shelves with a finger shoved up his nose. I considered warning him that if he fell, he would poke his brain out, but it struck me that losing intelligence was not something he was worried about.”

“Isen wasn't a two birds with one stone kind of guy. More like one stone, two birds, a rabbit, a fox, and maybe that deer will trip over the fox and we can get him, too.”