I wasn't going to let things happen to me any more. I was going to make them happen.

Then I kissed Max because I loved him, and everyone I had ever loved before had gone away and I had never kissed them goodbye

Books are many things: lullabies for the weary, ointment for the wounded, armour for the fearful and nests for those in need of a home.

When the doors closed behind me I felt like a bird had got inside my chest and was beating its wings trying to get loose, and it wasn't leaving much room for me to breathe.

I wasn't going to let things happen to me any more. I was going to make them happen.

Sometimes words come out of me and I don't know where they come from or why. They're like falling stars tumbling through the universe; bright, burning things that can't be stopped.

I didn't know what to say when someone's given you a small free kiss in the dark.