It's easy to smile just to make other people feel better. But when a person fakes happy, it has edges. Regular people may not see, but the people who count, they can see the edges and the lines where your smile ends and the real you, the sadness (me) or the anger (Grandma) begins.

A woman made of parts is a dangerous thing. You never know when she'll throw away a piece you may need.

If there’s no one else to tell another side - the only story that can be told is the story that becomes true. (p. 173)

I'm not the color of my skin. I'm a story. One with a past and a future unwritten.

I don't know if it's better to have people laugh at what you are or just not understand.

The bottle is where everything sad or mean or confusing can go. And the blues--it's like that bottle. But in the bottle there's a seed that you let grow. Even in the bottle it can grow big and green. It's full of all those feelings that are in there, but beautiful and growing too.

It's easy to smile just to make other people feel better. But when a person fakes happy, it has edges. Regular people may not see, but the people who count, they can see the edges and the lines where your smile ends and the real you, the sadness (me) or the anger (Grandma) begins.