“You can't eat [literature], that's the problem," he said. "I've tried, it's very dry, and not at all nutritious.”

“You can't eat [literature], that's the problem," he said. "I've tried, it's very dry, and not at all nutritious.”

“You two were in a cave together?’ said Miss Simpkins in horror.‘Yes,’ said Kate, ‘and it was very, very dark.”

“The sky pulsed with stars. Some people say it makes them lonesome when they stare up at the night sky. I can't imagine why. There's no shortage of company. By now there's not a constellation I can't name. Orion. Lupus. Serpens. Hercules. Draco. My father taught me all of their stories. So when I look up I see a galaxy of adventures and heroes and villains, all jostling together and trying to outdo one another, and I sometimes want to tell them to hush up and not distract me with their chatter. I've glimpsed all the stars ever discovered by astronomers, and plenty that haven't been.”

“None of us gets to choose how we're born, it's what we make of ourselves afterwards.”

“Nothing's scarier than having a sick child, and one so newly born, and so vulnerable. It's the worst thing for a parent.”

“Let me get you all some punch,” I said.“You're leaving us?” said Isabel, sounding panicky.“I'll be right back,” I promised. “If anyone comes near you, just scream and run.”

“You see, when medicine works, it is blessed science, and when it fails, it is witchcraft. - Polidori”

“The preface? Why would he waste time with the preface? Skip the preface and move on to the meat of the thing!”

“I felt like I was seeing Shannon through a new lens, undistracted by Jennifer's nuclear glow. I could see how pretty she really was, how kind her eyes were.”

“The world should have been in Technicolour, but seemed more like black and white.”