Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it's not because they enjoy solitude. It's because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.

Scars are just a treasure map for pain you've buried too deep to remember.

a guardian ad litem... GAL is appointed by a court to be a child's advocate during legal proceedings that involve a minor. You don't have to be a lawyer to be trained as a GAL, but you have to have a moral compass and a heart. Which, actually probably renders most lawyers unqualified for the job.

But that's what love is, isn't it? When it hurts you more to see someone suffer than it does to take the pain away?

May I ask you something?" I say. "Why do you read books, when you could be outside, living a million different adventures every day?" "Because you can always count on a book to stay the same. EVerything else changes when you least expect it," she replies, bitter. "Families split apart, and nothing's forever. In books, you always know what's coming next. There are no surprises.

Everyone thinks you make mistakes when you're young. But I don't think we make any fewer when we're grown up

You can be strapped to the most stable chair and still feel the world give way beneath you.