She studied my face for a long minute. "Are you going to help my mom?" It was a simple question. But how do you tell a child that things just aren't that simple, that some questions don't have simple answers--or any answer at all?

Something like this will test you like nothing else," Mac said. "You're going to find out who you are, Harry. You're going to find out which principles you'll stand by to your death--and which lines you'll cross." He took my empty glass away and said, "You're heading into the badlands. It'll be easy to get lost.

Sticks and stones and small caliber bullets may break my bones... Words will never, et cetera.

There’s nothing that makes you more insane than family. Or more happy. Or more exasperated. Or more . . . secure.

Keep it up, wise guy. I'm always going to be taller than you once you're lying unconscious on the ground.

Even in winter, the cold isn't always bitter, and not every day is cruel.

I still can't believe," Michael said, sotto voce, "that you came to the Vampires' Masquerade Ball dressed as a vampire.