Patrick started driving really fast, and just before we got to the tunnel. Sam stood up, and the wind turned her dress into ocean waves. When we hit the tunnel, all the sound got scooped up into a vacuum, and it was replaced by a song on the tape player. A beautiful song called “Landslide.” When we got out of the tunnel, Sam screamed this really fun scream, and there it was. Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. Sam sat down and started laughing. Patrick started laughing. I started laughing. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.

There are rules you follow here not because you want to, but because you have to.

The truth is, when it gets really quiet, when the silence gets too loud, i really start to miss everyone.

I don't know if it's better to be close with your daughter or make sure that she has a better life than you do.

When the police came, they found my brother asleep on the roof. Nobody knows how he got there.

When I did a study of all the coming-of-age movies that meant a lot to me, whether it was 'The Graduate' or 'Rebel Without a Cause' or 'Dead Poet's Society,' they all had that timeless feel. None of them were completely married to the details of their age. They felt timeless in their treatment of it. That's what made them resonate with me.

Part of the reason I wrote the book was I wanted to understand for myself why such good people let themselves get treated so badly.