“Dan watched in awe. "I didn't know you talk Turkey.""I speak Turkish.”

“The roar of an engine blasted from his left—and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with flame decals jumped the sidewalk in front of him.A small crowd of travelers scattered."How do you say, 'You jerk!' in Turkish?" Jake asked."Erasmus!" Dan cried with relief.Jake balled his fist angrily and shouted, "Erasmus!"”

“How do you know, Dan? You were so young when they died. Do you really remember them?""Not in my mind," Dan replied, gazing at the passing scenery. "But everyplace else...”

“You should climb around inside my brain, Dan. It's like this dark room surrounded by quicksand.""I know what you mean," her brother said quietly. "I hate being in my brain sometimes. I have to get out.""What do you do?" Amy asked.Dan shrugged "I go to other places. My toes. My shoulders. But mostly here." He tapped his chest and immediately reddened. "I know. It's stupid.""Not really," Amy said. "I wish I could do that, too.”

“What's this?" Dan said, pointing to a funny squiggly formation. Uh, an M," said Nellie. "Or if you look at it the other way, a W. Or sideways, kind of S-ish..."Maybe it's palm trees," Dan said. "Like in the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. You know? No? These guys need to find hidden money, and the only clue they have is it's under a big W? And no one sees what it means-but then, near the end of the movie, there's this grove of four palm trees rising up in the shape of... you-know-what! Classic!"Amy, Alistair, Natalie, Ian and Nellie all looked at him blankly.There is no W in the Korean language," Alistair replied. "Or palm trees in Korea. I might be maple trees..."Mrrp," said Saladin, rubbing his face against Dan's knee. I'll tell you the rest of the plot later," Dan whispered to the Mau.”

“When the guy turned around, Amy began stuttering. Silently. It was a feat only Amy could manage, and only Dan could notice.And it only happened in front of boys who looked like this one. He had brown hair and caramel-colored eyes, like Dan's friend Nick Santos, whomade all the sixth-grade girls turn into blithering idiots when he looked their way--in fact, would even say Watch, lean make them turn into blitheringidiots, and then he'd do it. Only older."He. Is. Hot," Nellie said under her breath."You too?" Dan hissed.”

“The boy smiled -- mostly at Amy."Sorry, her heart belongs to Ian Kabra," Dan said, except that something in her expression made him realize her heart didn't belong at all to Ianright now.”