Throughout the day, Stargirl had been dropping money. She was the Johnny Appleseed of loose change: a penny here, a nickel there. Tossed to the sidewalk, laid on a shelf or bench. Even quarters. "I hate change," she said. "It's so . . . jangly." "Do you realize how much you must throw away in a year?" I said. "Did you ever see a little kid's face when he spots a penny on a sidewalk?"

And the more you love someone, the safer it is to be mad at them. Love can handle mad, no problem.

I love surprises! That's what is great about reading. When you open a book, you never know what you'll find.

She laughed when there was no joke. She danced when there was no music. She had no friends, yet she was the friendliest person in school.

No one's hurt is too small, no worry too removed, no blessing so elusive that it cannot be seen by the eyes in the back of the human heart.

A baseball bat could not have hit me harder than that smile did. I was sixteen years old. In that time, how many thousands of smiles had been aimed at me? so why did this one feel like the first?

I have a curious background for someone who turns out to be a writer.