The story you choose to tell isn't always the story you believe.

Something I would always remember. When you forget how bad it hurts, you feel so free.

We were alive. I remember it that way. We were still alive, and we couldn't see how close we were to the end.

[C]ouches and chairs covered in scratches aim away from one another, making it possible for a dozen people to sit in this room at once and not have to talk to one other person, which is a miracle in furniture arrangement.

Sometimes a perfect memory can be ruined if put to words.

Most people, in the end, really are all on their own.

My Heart and Other Black Holes is alive with intensity, gut-wrenching honesty, moments of humor, and -- of course -- heart. This is an extraordinary debut by a striking new voice in YA fiction that left me in awe and moved beyond measure. Not to be missed.