Eating was hard. Breathing was hard. Living was hardest.

I wish America would stop judging and criticizing teens and instead, try to understand the battles they have to fight every day.

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.

You’re not dead, but you’re not alive, either. You’re a wintergirl, Lia-Lia, caught in between the worlds. You’re a ghost with a beat- ing heart. Soon you’ll cross the border and be with me. I’m so stoked. I miss you wicked.

Mr. Freeman sighs. "No imagination. What are you thirteen? Fourteen? You've already let them beat your creativity out of you!

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?

Eating was hard. Breathing was hard. Living was hardest.