God knows what possessed me, but having that science book in my hand propelled me to immediate action. So I hit her with it.

It still amazes him how they could have been misled by her personality in Year Eleven. It’s what depression does to a person, it changes them completely.

I’m scared to die,” I whispered as Michael walked in.”He was scared to live,” he said kissing my forehead.

A tiny bit. It’s strange. You’re writing a letter to someone who’s never going to read it, so it kind of frees you up a bit.

Some of us weren’t born for rewards, Froi. We were born for sacrifices.

We’re not eight kingdoms, but an entire land with one heartbeat. It’s why people like you and I need to record our people’s stories so we can find those moments when our paths cross, and...

Are you calling us pigs?’ Froi asked, watching as Rafuel winced for the tenth time at the formality of Froi’s Charyn.Rafuel thought for a moment and then nodded.‘Actually yes, I am. Pig-like.’Froi turned back to...

Have you ever seen The Last of the Mohicans?””I love it.””Really?” I’m over the moon. We share a movie. Finally, we’re on the same planet.”Don’t you love the part where he says, ‘Stay alive. I...

Even five minutes of your time can make someone’s day,

I wish everyone would stop crying, Tom. Uncle Joe would be so angry about it.” But she’s crying herself now. “He’d be so angry at us, Tom, for crying so much when all he did...

People aren’t interested in the truth, Dafar. They’re interested in what keeps them safe. They’re interested in being looked after. They’re interested in a tale being spun… Mighty men have moments of great despair that...

I need voices of reason and of hysteria and of empathy. I need to have an Alanis moment. I need advice from Elizabeth Bennett. I need Tim Tams and comfort food.

In the games of queens and kings, we leave our dreams at the door and we make do with what we have. Sometimes if we’re fortunate, we still manage to have a good life.

We approach the house and I wave at Jimmy. “And if he thinks he’s eating with us, he’s got another thing coming,” my dad says.Jimmy approaches us and takes the shopping bags from me, looking...

There’s not much you need to know about the world. Except how to use a sword and trust very few.

As he left Yata’s home that morning, he knew that a part of his life was complete and that whatever path he chose, he would experience the ache of unfulfilled dreams. For a moment he...

This is what I know. I look like my father. My father disappeared when he was seventeen years old. Hannah once told me that there is something unnatural about being older than your father ever...

It’s against the rules of humanity to believe there is nothing we can do.

The string slices into the skin of his fingers and no matter how tough the calluses, it tears. But this beat is fast and even though his joints are aching, his arm’s out of control...

Because without our language, we have lost ourselves. Who are we without our words?

Why question what Froi of Lumatere was doing here?’ he asked.’ When you should be questioning what would have happened to Charyn if he hadn’t been here. Who else would have saved Gargarin of Abroi...

Was. What does was actually mean? The verb to be. Past tense of is. Does it mean that someone is no longer being?

Men don’t rape women because their women are ugly,” cousin Jostien said, but there was a protest at his words. “That’s what my fa said! He says that inside their hearts and spirits they are...

Maybe memories should be left the way they are.

I never thought meeting you would be this boring. I thought we’d put our Italian emotion into gear and scream the place down. I never expected indifference.

It’s funny how you can forget everything except people loving you. Maybe that’s why humans find it so hard getting over love affairs. It’s not the pain they’re getting over, it’s the love.

So I ring Justine Kalinsky and I say, “It’s Francesca Spinelli,” and she says, “Francesca, you’ve got to stop using last names. How are you doing?” and I say “I feel like shit”, and I...

Each day, at the same time, Jude would return and they would be there, led by Webb, whose life could not have been more different than his. Where Webb’s memories of childhood were idyllic and...

It’s Thursday afternoon, and we have sports. These are the choices for the girls: watching an invitational cricket game; studying in one of the classrooms; or watching the senior rugby league. As you can imagine,...

Because today, I think I’m leaning on the side of wonder.

What if she’s all I give you in this life of ours, my love?” she asked quietly. “Then I’ll shout at the goddess in fury,” he said fiercely. “I’ll beg to know why I’ve been...

…I don’t believe you should be a virgin when you get married,’ Sera said. ‘You should experiment. Men do”Yes, but only if you’re in love with them,’ I said.

Oh, you’ve outdone me twice now, you queen of forgiveness. The ring’s a promise of peace and I’m greedy with hope. It’s a song that we sing in a tongue that we share. And though...

You blame me for this, don’t you?” he says.”I don’t need to. You’re doing a better job.

Don’t believe in God. Love the world just the way it is.

Play me something that makes me feel;This soul inside me is made of steel.Brain is breathing, but heart’s not beatingAnd, babe, I need you to make things real.Walk inside me without silence,Kill the past and...

He’s my father!” she bellowed, pointing to Trevanion.”Vestie!” Beatriss said firmly, stopping to stare up at her. “I’ll snip at the tongue if I ever see it in such a way again! Trevanion, speak to...

Promise me you’ll never stop dreaming.

But grief makes a monster out of us sometimes . . . and sometimes you say and do things to the people you love that you can’t forgive yourself for.

Do you want to hang out? At your place or something?” Hanging out with Jimmy Hailler will mean that I have to say hello to him every day. I’m not ready to say hello to...

People divulge things to you that they would not divulge to anyone else.

I hope you’re not smoking in front of her,’ Lucia says to him.’Yeah, I lie in bed and puff in her face, Lucia,’ he says, irritated.

Hannah, do you think that your mum and dad and Tate’s mum and dad and my mum and dad and Webb and Tate are all together someplace?’ she asks earnestly. I look at Hannah, waiting...

Don’t let anyone take care of you. Can you maybe leave that for me to do? I mean, take care of you? Feel free to take care of me in return… because I think I’ll...

If I had to wish for something, just one thing, it would be that Hannah would never see Tate the way I did. Never see Tate’s beautiful, lush hair turn brittle, her skin sallow, her...

I miss the Stella girls telling me what I am. That I’m sweet and placid and accommodating and loyal and nonthreatening and good to have around. And Mia. I want her to say, “Frankie, you’re...

City people. They may know how to street fight but they don’t know how to wade through manure.

In hope. Rather than float into nothing.

She and me? We the same in some fings. We live. The others, those orphan kids, they dead. Because she and me, we want to live and we do anyfing to make that happen. That’s...

For reasons he couldn’t understand a sadness came over him and it was then he saw the girl standing on the other side of the dirt road, her eyes pools of absolute sorrow, her light...