“He had the face of a floating astronaut who had lost his tether and had only one chance to grab a lifeline or forever drift away into endless black. I knew that feeling, the sense of panic that stretched time, turning seconds into years, and the deep pain that came from being hurt by not one person but many, a gang of bullies that expanded into a neighborhood and then into a community, until you questioned the whole world.”

“I wanted to say something, at least wave goodbye. Blake couldn't see me through the dark-tinted windows. All I could to was watch him stare at the windows, searching, finding nothing. Deep disappointment fell across his face as our car pulled away.It wasn't until we had a little distance that I noticed he was holding something in his hand. My shoe.”

“No one ever complained about a fat brain. No one ever accused their brain of being too short or too tall, too wide or too narrow. Or ugly. It either worked or it didn't, and mine worked just fine.”

“I need you to go talk to a girl who may have some information about Emma.""Where is she?""Someplace you're not going to want to go."(...)"I give up. Where?""Institution 37."I felt a hitch in my breathing. I leaned back against the wall."Could I pick hell instead?”

“Did Cinderella ever consider fessing up to the prince, that night she was enjoying herself in the fancy ball gown? Did she even think of telling him, oh, by the way, Prince, the coach isn’t mine, I’m really a filthy little barefoot servant on borrowed time? No. She took her moment. And then went quietly away after midnight.”

“Everybody wants to be someone else," he says "Do you blame them?" he asks.”

“Would you like to be young again? Play any kind of sport you used to? All day long, with no soreness the next day?""Who Wouldn't?”