“This is wonderful, wonderful! Be the bird. You are the bird. Sacrifice yourself to abandoned family values....”

“I want to make a memorial for our turkey. Never has a bird been so tortured to provide such a lousy dinner.”

“I wonder how long it would take for anyone to notice if I just stopped talking.”

“You hurt her by starving yourself, you hurt her with your lies, and by fighting everybody who tries to help you. Emma can only sleep a couple of hours a night now. She's haunted by nightmares of monsters that eat our whole family. They eat us slowly, she says, so we can feel their sharp teeth. ”

“Don't expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself.”

“There is something about Christmas that requires a rug rat. Little kids make Christmas fun. I wonder if could rent one for the holidays. When I was tiny we would by a real tree and stay up late drinking hot chocolate and finding just the right place for the special decorations. It seems like my parents gave up the magic when I figured out the Santa lie. Maybe I shouldn't have told them I knew where the presents really came from. It broke their hearts.I bet they'd be divorced by now if I hadn't been born. I'm sure I was a huge disappointment. I'm not pretty or smart or athletic. I'm just like them- an ordinary drone dressed in secrets and lies. I can't believe we have to keep playacting till I graduate. It's a shame we just can't admit that we have failed at family living, sell the house, split up the money, and get on with our lives. Merry Christmas.”

“It's a shame we can't just admit that we failed family living, sell the house, split up the money, and get on with our lives.”