You know," he said, "I keep wanting to say that it's like Simon Snow threw up in here... but it's more like someone else ate Simon Snow—like somebody went to an all-you-care-to-eat Simon Snow buffet—and then threw up in here.

To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one.

It's more like you meet someone, and you fall in love, and you hope that that person is the one - and then at some point, you have to put down your chips. You just have to make a commitment and hope that you're right.

The squirrels on campus were beyond domestic; they were practically domestically abusive.

You act like there are two kinds of girls,' she said. 'The smart ones and the ones that boys like.

Even if your heart is broken and attacking you, you're still not better off without it.

Hey,' he said. It came out hard and frustrated. 'I told you to smile because you're pretty when you smile.' She walked to the bottom of the steps, then looked back at him. 'It'd be better if you thought I was pretty when I don't.