I became a firefighter because I wanted to save people. But I should have been more specific. I should have named names.

Everyone deserves a happy ending.

You give her all your french fries, even when she won't give you back onion rings,' Sophie says. 'And when you say her name it sounds different.' How?' Sophie thinks. 'Like it's covered with blankets.

If his voice hasn't been the melody of my life, it's been the bass line, so subtle you don't notice it until it's missing.

My brother believed in all sorts of mythical creatures: pixies, dragons, werewolves, honest men.

I think that's probably the most devastating thing - when someone who is larger than life winds up a shadow of themselves in a hospital bed.

It's because of libraries that books like mine get recommended to book clubs and avid readers, who in turn pass them onto others looking to be whisked away from the world for a little while...and perhaps to learn a bit about themselves in the process.