To all my librarian friends, champions of books, true magicians in the House of Life. Without you, this writer would be lost in the Dust.

Then she did something that really surprised me. She blinked back tears and put out her arms. I stepped forward and hugged her. Butterflies started turning my stomach into a mosh pit. "Hey, it's... it's okay." I patted her back. I was aware of everything in the room. I felt like I could read the tiniest print on any book on the shelves. Annabeth's hair smelled like lemon soap. She was shivering.

Maybe being home schooled, Carter didn’t realize that “test” is normally a bad thing.

What about a compromise? I’ll kill them first, and if it turns out they were friendly, I’ll apologize.

The taller they are, the longer they fall.

He [Nico] regarded Jason, as if waiting for an attack. 'If the others found out-' 'If the others found out,' Jason said, 'You'd have that many more people to back you up, and to unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble.

That’s us,” he said. “Those five nuts right there.” Which one is me?” I asked. The little deformed one,” Zoe suggested. Oh, shut up.