I won the wintergirl trip over the border into dangerland.

When life sucks, read. They can't yell at you for that. And if they do, then you can ignore them.

I want to go to sleep and not wake up, but I don’t want to die.

It was like looking at a knot, knowing it was a knot, but not knowing how to untie it. I had no map for this life.

My parents didn't raise me to be religious. The closest we come to worship is the Trinity of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. I think the Merryweather cheerleaders confuse me because I missed out on Sunday School. It has to be a miracle. There is no other explanation. How else could they sleep with the football team on Saturday night and be reincarnated as virginal goddesses on Monday?

The light beyond my eyes flashflashflashes with a hundred futures for me. Doctor. Ship's captain. Forest ranger. Librarian. Beloved of that man or that women or those children or those people who voted for me or who painted my picture. Poet. Acrobat. Engineer. Friend. Guardian. Avenging whirlwind. A million futures--not all pretty, not all long, but all of them mine. I do have a choice" - p. 271

This is wonderful, wonderful! Be the bird. You are the bird. Sacrifice yourself to abandoned family values.