Writing a novel is like childbirth: once you realize how awful it really is, you never want to do it again.

Maybe if I'd agreed to do the debutante thing like she wanted. Or taken up pageants instead of riding jump bikes with a bunch of grungy boys. I'd always tell her, why can't I do both? Who says you have to be either smart or pretty, or into girly stuff or sports? Life shouldn't be about the either/or. We're capable of more than that, you know?

Growing up means :propelling yourself forward into whatever lies ahead, one turn of the wheel at a time.

You knew the truth all along, Colie. That's all matters. You knew.

'I don't get it,' Caroline said, bemused. 'She's the only one with wings. Why is that?'

And I felt a sudden whirl in my head, knowing this leap was inevitable, that I wasn't just standing on the cliff, toes poking over, but already in mid-air.

I like flaws. I think they make things interesting.