Wendelin Van Draanen
It's disturbing how fast weeds take root in my garden of worthiness. They're so hard to pull. And grow back so easily.Collection: Weed
It’s funny to hear priests and nuns argue with each other.Collection: Arguing
Now, I know from experience that the trouble with one lie is that it usually takes more lies to cover it up. And if you don't watch out, you wind up telling lies to cover up the lies that are covering up the original lie.Collection: Lying
If the mind's not strong, the body acts weak, even if it's not. If the mind says it's too cold or too rainy or too windy to run, the body will be more than happy to agree. If the mind says it would be better to rest or recover or cut practice, the body will be glad to oblige.Collection: Running
The room fell quiet. And as I read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eight-grade boys, I realized that to me, there had only ever been one boy.Collection: Crush
You never forget your first love.Collection: First Love
You told us over and over that you don’t think you could live without books, but the ironic thing is, you’d probably die before you’d think to rip pages out of one to start a fire. Am I right? Well, get over it already. Better to be warm then well-read.Collection: Rip
(Actually now I’m remembering that the goodbye chow isn’t spelled that way. It’s ciao or something weird like that. It’s Italian, right? But I’m not an Italian gypsy, I’m a hungry gypsy. So spelling it chow makes total sense.)Collection: Goodbye
I am a runner. That's what I do. That's who I am. Running is all I know, or want, or care about.Collection: Running
Blue Face Disgusting taste Flush it Shush it Cold disgraceCollection: Blue
And now I was seeing that there was something really cool about that family. All of them. They were just...real. And who were we? There was something spinning wickedly out of control inside this house. It was like seeing inside the Baker's world had opened up windows into our own, and the view was not a pretty one. Where had all this stuff come from? And why hadn't I ever seen it before.Collection: Real
As much as thinking this upsets me, I'm starting to see that I need the merry-go-round much more than it needs me, and in the end my choice is to hop back on or get left in the dust.Collection: Thinking
I’ve flown kites before and I know – sometimes they’re gone forever, and sometimes they’re just waiting in the middle of the road for you to rescue them. Kites can be lucky or they can be ornery. I’ve had both kinds, and a lucky kite is definitely worth chasing for.Collection: Waiting
You can't dwell on what might have been...and it's not fair to condemn him for something he hasn't done.Collection: Done
Then I saw Juli. She was two tables away from me, facing my direction. Only she wasn't looking at me. She was looking at Jon, her eyes all sparkly and laughing. My heart lurched. What was she laughing about? What were they talking about? How could she sit there and look so... beautiful? I felt myself spinning out of control. It was weird. Like I couldn't even steer my own body. I'd always thought Jon was pretty cool, but right then I wanted to go over and throw him across the room.Collection: Beautiful
Sometimes the things we really want are right in front of us. We just don't see them.Collection: Want
Proper lighting is everything, Julianna.Collection: Lighting
There was other stuff, too, like how something can be so much more than the parts it took to make it, and why people need things around them that lift them above their lives and make them feel the miracle of living.Collection: People
Maybe my mother's right. Maybe there is more to Bryce Loski than I know. Maybe it's time to meet him in the proper light.Collection: Mother
What he did to my heart was sheer, inexplicable, magic.Collection: Heart
To by held above the earth and be brushed by the wind," she said,"it's like your heart has been kissed by beauty.Collection: Heart
I operate under the assumption that people don't notice the good in me. That's just how things always seem to play out. I get blamed, while con-artist kids like Venus, and Camille, and Gemma get believed. But the rescue lady noticed. In the background, just observing, she noticed.Collection: Kids
I was slipping, man, and it was definetly time to get a grip.Collection: Men
I don’t think you’re aloud to be homeschooled if you don’t have a home.Collection: Home
There's nothing like a headstrong woman to make you happy to be alive.Collection: Alive
Aw, he's just you know...entrenched," Matt said. "Gotta adjust to the perspective and deal from there." Then he added, "Not that I'd want him as my dad...." Mike practically sprayed his milk. "Dude! Can you imagine?" Then Matt gave my dad a slap on the back and said, "No way. I'm sticking with my main man here." My mom grinned from across the kitchen and said, "Me too." I'd never seen my father cry. And he didn't exactly sit there bawling, but there were definitely tears welling up in his eyes.Collection: Mom
It was beyond embarrassing or humiliating or even mortifying. It was ego-slaying!Collection: Ego
He tells us that life isn't about what happens to you, it's about what you do about what happens to you.Collection: Happiness
My grandfather stood beside me and looked across the street, too. "No, Bryce," he said softly. "She's the same as she's always been; you're the one who's changed." He clapped his hand on my shoulder and whispered, "And son, from here on out, you'll never be the same again.Collection: Son
Bryce," she whispers. "What's wrong." I can barely breathe as I ask her, "Do you like him?" "Do I... you mean Jon?" "Yes!" "Well, sure. He's nice and -" "No, do you like him?" My heart was pounding through my chest as I took her other hand and waited. "Well, no. I mean, not like that...." No! She said no! I didn't care where I was, I didn't care who saw. I wanted, just had to kiss her. I leaned in, closed my eyes, and then...Collection: Nice
I had liked him for all the wrong reasons.Collection: Reason
Get beyond his eyes and his smile and the sheen of his hair - look at what's really there.Collection: Eye
But in my heart I knew the old Bryce was toast. There was no going back. Not to Garrett or Shelly or Miranda or any of the other people who wouldn't understand. Juli was different, but after all these years that didn't bother me anymore. I liked it. I liked her.Collection: Heart
I miss school. What’s wrong with me?Collection: School
What I'm expecting is for you to behave like the gentleman I always thought you were.Collection: Men
I write early in the morning at the computer, and people think Im crazy, but I still use my Mac-Classic even though we have a state-of-the-art PC. There are just less distractions with the simpler machine.Collection: Art
Every once in a while you find someone who is iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare.Collection: Romance