All my life I'd been told what to believe about politics, coloreds, being a girl. But with Constantine's thumb pressed in my hand, I realized I actually had a choice in what I could believe.

The day your child says she hates you, and every child will go through the phase, it kicks like a foot in the stomach.

That's what I love about Aibileen, she can take the most complicated things in life and wrap them up so small and simple, they'll fit right in your pocket.

No one tells us, girls who don't go on dates, that remembering can be almost as good as what actually happens.

And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

Baby Girl," I say. "I need you remember everything I told you. Do you remember what I told you?" She still crying steady, but the hiccups are gone. "To wipe my bottom good when I'm done?" "No, baby, the other one. About who you are.

Lord, I never seen blue hair on a black woman before or since. Leroy say you look like a cracker from outer space.