We knew the pain of winter rushing up your skirt, and the ache of keeping your knees together in class, and how drab and infuriating it was to jump rope while the boys played baseball. We could never understand why the girls cared so much about being mature, or why they felt compelled to compliment each other.

A girl's not a watermelon you plug a hole in to see if it's sweet.

To be inclusive you must accommodate different levels of sophistication.

I remember liking to write stories pretty early on. In fourth or fifth grade, they would give us the beginning of a story, and we were supposed to finish it. I remember liking that. But I didn't think about deciding to become a writer until high school at about the age of 16.

The time has to be right and the heart willing.

Whenever we got a glimpse, their faces looked indecently revealed, as though we were used to seeing women in veils.

that since Cecilia’s suicide, the Lisbon’s could hardly wait for the night to forget themselves in sleep