A knife is only as good as the one who wields it.

Know yourself and go in swinging, if it hurts when you hit, it might be real, too.

I was born into all that, all that mess, the over-crowded swamp and the over-crowded sematary and the not-crowded-enough town, so I don’t remember nothing, don’t remember a world without Noise. My pa died of sickness before I was born and then my ma died, of course, no surprises there. Ben and Cillian took me in, raised me. Ben says my ma was the last of the women but everyone says that about everyone’s ma. Ben may not be lying, he believes it’s true, but who knows?

People say they want freedom, but what they really want is freedom from worry. If I take care of their problems, they don't mind being told what to do.

The ability to make fire at will. It allowed us light to see in the darkness, warmth against the cold, a tool to cook our food.’ He gestured vaguely in the direction of the Delta’s engines. ‘Fire is what eventually led to travel across the black beyond, the ability to start a new life on a New World.

Shout for libraries. Shout for the young readers who use them.

Stories don’t always have happy endings.