“everybody-even monsters-needed a little attention once in a while.”

“Everybody loves to show up at the party once all the hard work is done.”

“Texting, even browsing the Internet - all these things can attract monsters.”

“They're not so bad. They just need some attention. ...Like pets. Or my brother.”

“Maybe it's okay to still be a kid every once in a while.”

“The wand ricocheted through the swarm, thumping six, seven, eight of the little monsters before returning to Carter’s hand.“Not bad,” I said. “Keep it up!”

“So I took her hand, and I don't know what everybody else heard, but to me it sounded like a slow dance: a little sad, but maybe a little hopeful, too.”