“...we've already had one horrible thing happen today, which means that if you think about it the odds of anything else horrible happening again in the next few hours should now be quite low.”

“I've had quite enough danger for a while I think. I might have some more when I'm thirteen, but definitely not before then...”

“We're going to have ourselves one hell of a Ruckus," said Smokey with a grin that went quite beyond the boundaries of mischief and right into the realm of delinquency.”

“...food was at least three million per cent more delicious when you ate it immediately after thinking you were going to die.”

“I haven't been so sure of anything since the time Mum asked me if I absolutely, definitely, certainly thought it was a good idea to practise doing cartwheels inside the house.”

“I had an aunt named 'abnormal Shauna' once. But she passed away in an unfortunate cliff-top interpretative dance and fireworks accident.”

“It happened all the time. Maybe someone had a legitimate gripe that deserved airing. Maybe someone had a compliment that shouldn't go unspoken. No one said a thing. So long and stay in touch, that's usually all we said. Take care of yourself, good luck. We said nothing about affection, appreciation, admiration.”