Death was no less a miracle than birth.

The greatest mystery the universe offers is not life but Size.

A kid of your age---any kid---could get hold of matches if she wanted to, burn up the house or whatever. But not many do. Why would they want to?

If I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross out. I'm not proud.

The bad ideas kind of just drop out of the mix. You forget about them. The good ones stick around.

Guys like Henry and his buddies were an accident waiting to happen; the little kids' version of floods or tornadoes or gallstones.

The late afternoon sunlight, warm as oil, sweet as childhood.