Margaret Peterson Haddix quotes:

Ah, but is any history really all that ancient?' Second asked. 'Doesn't every moment from the past affect the present?' This man was more annoying than any history teacher Jordan had ever had.

Somehow this change was even scarier than all the people downstairs, because Jordan could have an identical twin; there could be kids who looked like his parents' childhood pictures. The bunk beds were impossible.

Most people couldn't be rich if they wanted to be honest; most people couldn't be honest if they wanted to be rich.

...is any history really all that ancient?...Doesn't every moment from the past affect the present?

And Nedley started saying,'Shut Up!Quit that! And i knew it really meant something to him. So I asked for his help,"Mark said. "Don't tell the story like that," Nedley laughed. "What he said was 'Quit pretendin you're a bad guy I need your help, and I need it now!

Unlike my mother, my father does not cry quietly. His wails roll out like a wave of pain, and I scramble to roll up my window. My mother cannot hear that. I cannot bear to hear it myself. I am not used to my father's crying. I've had no time to harden my heart against him.

I start to think, 'It's awful being too poor to even buy my own dress for homecoming.' But that's instantly swept away by another thought: 'I'm so lucky that someone cates enough to loan me a dress.

Because, he said in an even voice, you're used to winning, so you don't even think about how, every time there's a game, both sides get that 'rah, rah, team' speech from their coaches both sides hear 'you're the best!' 'You've got to win!' 'You're the greatest!' But half of the people playing that game are going to walk away losers. Half!

Why did everyone like that story so much when it wasn't true? Why was everyone so eager to believe it? Was it because, in real life, ever after's generally stink?

Ah, jeez... She really is a cheerleader.' And it seemed suddenly that this was true- not because she was an airhead or a hottie or a nonjock, but because she could throw herself so wholeheartedly into someone else's cause, because she could care so much and try so hard from the sidelines.

The sudden silence is horrifying, and it seems to catch my mother off guard. A tiny whimper escapes her, the sound amplified in the stillness. Surely, my father hears her now; surely he and I can't go on pretending she isn't crying.

Knowledge isn't evil, in and of itself. It's what people choose to do with their knowledge that makes the difference. I think it matters what you want knowledge for. And what you're willing to sacrifice to get it.