“A superhero spliced criminals from victims. In Gowanus things tended to be more mixed up.”

“I’d forgotten my identity as the world’s most pathetic superhero, become a Californian instead. ”

“Eighth grade's a distant rumor, a tabled issue, and Dylan knows from experience that the summer between might change anything, everything. He and Mingus Rude too and even Arthur Lomb for that matter are released from the paint-by-numbers page of their schooldays, from their preformatted roles as truant or victim, freed to an unspoiled summer, that inviting medium for doodling in self-transformation. ”

“...Don't rupture another's illusion unless you're positive the alternative you offer is more worthwhile than that from which you're wrenching them. Interrogate your solipsism: Does it offer any better a home than the delusions you're reaching to shatter?”

“Life is fundamentally up for grabs”

“You can't reclaim a thing that changes as you touch it.”

“My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign.”