Meg Medina > Quotes

“Take care not to listen to anyone who tells you what you can and can't be in life.”
― Meg Medina, The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind

“You never forget the books you loved as a kid. You never forget the poems you memorized, the first book you read until the cover fell off, the book you read hidden from your mother. What an honor to hold hands with a child's imagination in this way.”
― Meg Medina

“Sometimes it's hard to wait for good things to happen. - Tia Isa”
― Meg Medina

“Growing up is like walking through glass doors that only open one way--you can see where you came from but can't go back.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“You know where this Yaqui girl is going to be in a few years if she doesn't change? She'll still be there, same as always in her old neighborhood--a nobody with nothing. And guess what? That's her worst fear.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“Nothing ends. There is only transformation, ugly as it may be.”
― Meg Medina, Burn Baby Burn

“...popular is even weirder. Turns out, it's not the same thing as having friends at all" -Merci”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“When I write now, I pretend I'm holding hands with the old me. I try to make sense of all those questions for her...”
― Meg Medina

“Cruz has never been my favorite person, I'll give you that. But an enemy? There's no sense i having those if we can help it" -Papi”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“How can you say bad things about someone you don’t know?” I shout. “How can you hate a stranger? Why do you have to pick on people?” she’s not better than Yaqui. It’s like everywhere there’s a bully in my face.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“I don't know what is going to happen next year, no one does. But that's OK.
I can handle it, I decide. It's just a harder gear, and I am ready. All I have to do is take a deep breath and ride.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“I am frightened, too,' he says. 'We all are. But we are the Suarez family, Merci. We are strong enough to face this together.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“It was Ma who first noticed my body changing, but she wasn't exactly tactful about my getting cuerpo. "Put on a bra already, Piddy," she said after she noticed a man on the bus gawking at my chest one day. "You can't go around with two loose onions in your shirt for all the boys to stare at," she snapped, like it was my fault that the man had helped himself to the show.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“When it comes to people, sometimes it’s a matter of taste, like these cookies. We like some more than others. That’s not bad. It’s just human.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“When I look up, I’m surprised to find myself in front of the old building. My feet must have gone on autopilot. I’m like one of those African elephants that finds her way home, no matter how far she’s roamed.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“Maybe we only tell our scary secrets when we have no choice.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“I’ve been thinking lately that growing up is like walking through glass doors that only open one way — you can see where you came from but can’t go back. That’s how it is for me, anyway.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“The whole building was probably listening in on her escandalo through the pipes; maybe even the whole block could hear. That tells you how mad she was, because if there’s one thing Ma hates, it’s looking low. The worst thing you can be is a chusma. She thinks we get a bad rap as Latinos, which she’s always trying to undo by being extra quiet and polite all the time.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“I know you and Roli are smart enough to be here — more than smart enough. But we don’t pay for tuition like most of the other families. So the value you add to the school has to come from you, because it’s not coming from our wallets.” “That’s not fair,” I say. “Maybe not. But I still think it’s worth it. Your education will open doors later, Merci, believe me. I just don’t want you to blow it.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“Maybe I am a pain. Or maybe buttons are stupid. Or maybe I’m stupid. If I had gone along, it would have been easier, and Edna wouldn’t be mad. And who really cares about a dumb map, anyway?”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“all of our sad days are like faded bruises, almost forgotten.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“All of my feelings are so confused. Thank you and I love you and I’m sorry – all of them harden in my chest, and the words just can’t get out.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Can't Dance

“I let the whole Merci open herself up to Seaward Pines, even this special once-in-a-while dancing one, who’s inside me, too.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Can't Dance

“Estas hecha una mujer.” She shakes her head sadily. A lot of the salon women tell me this: “You’ve become a woman.” None of them ever sounds too happy about it.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“Papi chose to be invisible today so you won't ever have to be.”
― Meg Medina, Flying Lessons & Other Stories

“Ma pulls me to her and hugs me so tight and for so long that I can feel her heart beating in her throat. It’s so pure that it takes my breath away. It’s as if she’s pressing all her strength through my skin and into the marrow of my bones.”
― Meg Medina, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

“This is exactly the bike that I wanted. It's the perfect present.
But there are other things that I wished for even harder than I did for this bike, and I know I won't get them, no matter what. Important things, like wishing that Lolo wasn't sick and that everything could stay the same.
Then again, staying the same means that Tia Ines might not have the chance to love Simon. It means Roli wouldn't go to college and get even smarter. It means that I wouldn't group up at all. Staying the same could be just as sad as Lolo changing.
I don't know what is going to happen next year, no one does. But that's OK.
I can handle it, I decide. It's just a harder gear, and I am ready. All I have to do is take a deep breath and ride.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“When you fall and hurt yourself, it takes a few days for the scrape to heal or the bruise to disappear. Maybe it’s the same with friend fights.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Can't Dance

“Mami says feelings are tricky, because sometimes they get disguised.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Changes Gears

“Everything vanishes eventually. Civilizations, species, people. That doesn’t mean they don't have value while they exist…Live in the moment. That’s the whole point.”
― Meg Medina, Merci Suárez Can't Dance