“It's unfair how the kids who are starving for attention tended to be so annoying that people had no inclination to give it to them.”

“All I heard were the bumps and crunches of my tires on the dirt road, blending with the dark noises of the forest. But it wasnt the forest that scared me. It was the people who lived and prowled within them.”

“It was you,' I said, my words as new and uncertain as a baby's. I was sixteen and in my bedroom, and I shook my head in an attempt to unscramble my thoughts. 'Not the tongue. The fire.'I shut my eyes, then opened them to make sure I hadn't made this thing up.[...]But Christian hadn't taken his eyes off me, and in his expression I saw a slew of emotions: shame, defiance, fury. Fear, but not for himself. For me. I saw my big brother, who carried me off the ledge at Suicide Rock when I froze up. [...] Who thought I was a fool and had no problem telling me so, but who stuck up for me anyway.”

“You should be out stirring up trouble with your friends, not bothering with all them books you read. You know it's them books what make you talk funny.”

“Kids are doing meth in every town in the country, Cat. Dang. Get your head out of your butt.”

“zoegirl: have u named the chicks?SnowAngel:yes, but i keep getting them mixed up. so now i call all of them "squishy." they're the collective squishy.zoegirl: *r* they squishy?SnowAngel: when you squeeze them,yes. but not in a yucky way.SnowAngel: they're growing on me, the little squishies. altho 1 of them pooped on my pillow.zoegirl: u let them on your bed?SnowAngel: they like it when i bounce them.”

“This is your birthday treat, and you're supposed to enjoy it, I reminded myself. It was part of my normal existence to give myself instructions like this. Maybe other people acted and lived in total naturalness. I often wondered if they did. But me? I needed an operating manual.”