“When I walk down the beach and smell the salt water, hear the waves crashing against the shoreline, and feel the granular sand under my feet, I can't help but realize why I'm here on this green earth”

“I spent the next two hours down there, first sitting in the sand, sifting and swirling, watching the grains fall from the webs of my dusty hands and then walking down by the water, collecting those little pieces of beach glass. There were more of them than I thought. They were surprisingly strong. I tried to snap one in half to see if the inside was still shiny and clear like regular glass, but it wouldn't break. Its scuffy exterior was like scar tissue. (67)”

“So softly Lizzy has to lean over to hear me, I say, 'I can't face the world until I know why I'm here.'You're kidding me.'I shake my head vehemently. 'No. I need to figure out my purpose. Until I do, what's the use of getting up?”

“As we ate, I watched the waves crashing and thought about the erosion, the turning of rock into sand, and how long it takes to see any difference in the coastline even though it's constantly being worked on. (167)”

“She told me to keep writing. After my journal filled up, I bought another one. As I wrote and read my entries to Joan, I felt myself metamorphosing. My growth was like the tide, coming in waves, retracting out of reach, coming back. Sometimes undercurrents came, pulling at my feet, sucking the sand out from under them. I dug my toes in hard and closed my eyes and managed to stay mostly upright, but those riptides came anyway, guided by the same moon that looked so benevolent, so white and happy against the indigo sky, so serene and fat and innocent, so far away. (141)”

“Asher, help!' she cried as she climbed down the steep, twisting path to the beach.'Help. Don't help. You give me mixed messages.' Asher sighed as he stuck his keys into his pocket and followed Cam to the edge of the lawn.”

“I can't believe I'm about to drink with my father- this is wrong on so many levels.”