Elise Hooper > Quotes

“Time stretched before her in an endless, predictable path of banal routines—”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“for now she was not the only one stumbling through the dark looking for an elusive sense of connection with the wider world.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“So, who was I now? I was old enough to wear wrinkles and scars, but young enough to feel stronger and smarter because of them”
― Elise Hooper, Learning to See

“But you have to ignore all of that and work endlessly to make your visions a reality. Stake a claim on your ambitions. If you wait around for other people to define you, you’ll be saddled with their expectations—”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“Walter amused them with a story of one of his students who had been caught cheating; the boy wrote some formulas for algebraic equations on his hand, and then rested his cheek in the same hand, as he worked on the exam, only to finish with the inked answers stamped across his face.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“Take a long, scenic walk back to your rooms. Look around you. More than anything, we need to work on how we see our surroundings. Beauty is everywhere, and it’s up to us to find it and communicate it in our art so others may see it.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“No one survives a war's front lines without ghosts clinging to them.”
― Elise Hooper, Angels of the Pacific

“The toll of living in the jungle revealed itself when we lined up with the other nurses who had arrived on Corregidor directly from Manila, four months earlier. Those of us who had spent time in the jungle appeared feral. Our hair had grown wild, well beyond regulation off-the-collar length, our coveralls were in tatters, our cuts in rations had left us underweight and gaunt, and our sallow skin glowed with a dull sheen of malarial fever sweat.”
― Elise Hooper, Angels of the Pacific: A Novel of World War II

“After all, what was the point of a library if not to encourage curiosity.”
― Elise Hooper, The Library of Lost Dollhouses

“Betty cannot train with the boys’ track team. In fact, the Illinois State Athletic Association prohibits interscholastic competition for girls in track and field events for good reason; it is well documented that women cannot be subjected to the same mental and physical strains that men can withstand.”
― Elise Hooper, Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team

“...many notable physicians have stated unequivocally that engaging in strenuous physical activity has many adverse effects on women, both physically and mentally. Athletic competition makes a woman overly assertive and bold and ruins the beauty of the feminine physique by eliminating her soft curves through strengthening her arms, broadening her shoulders, narrowing her waist, adding bulk to her legs, and developing power in the trunk, all characteristics that could render a woman overly masculine and unattractive.”
― Elise Hooper, Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team

“Women vanish far too easily. Your work shouldn’t be hidden. Art’s not meant to be locked away, my dear.” Belva rattled the ice in her glass. “It’s meant to connect us, to make us cry and laugh, to make us feel less alone.”
― Elise Hooper, The Library of Lost Dollhouses

“There’s actually a psychological rationale to explain our affinity for small things: dollhouses offer us a sense of control and imagination. They can provide a feeling of agency. Miniatures allow us to create the world as we’d like to see it.”
― Elise Hooper, The Library of Lost Dollhouses

“Tildy was prone to this single-mindedness. Obsession, that’s really what it was. Her focus and drive could be a strength, but also exhausting.”
― Elise Hooper, The Library of Lost Dollhouses

“Here, away from the city, they need to lose themselves in the beauty of the wide-open sea, the wind, and worlds that exist under every rock along the beach. There will be plenty of time for tidying when they get home. When we’re here, I try to let them set our schedule. Time at the beach is for letting the children bask in fresh air and freedom.”
― Elise Hooper, Learning to See: A Novel of Dorothea Lange, the Woman Who Revealed the Real America

“we were going to fight tooth and nail to save what we had. Or maybe it was simply good ol’-fashioned American righteousness—we were simply appalled by a nation defeating us by playing by a set of rules we considered unfair. Everyone had seen the news”
― Elise Hooper, Angels of the Pacific: A Novel of World War II

“When it became clear there weren’t enough trucks to get everyone off the peninsula, they made us start marching”
― Elise Hooper, Angels of the Pacific: A Novel of World War II

“I can always count on you to be opinionated and honest, yet you don’t judge. It’s a rare combination.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“You don’t need to be a hero.” I stiffened. A year ago, when I’d arrived on the decks of the Saratoga to set sail for Manila, I’d lived a small life. I was lonely and knew little about friendship. But since I’d been here in the Philippines, I’d become a part of something bigger than myself. This sprawling group of nurses and doctors and soldiers had become my family, and while serving alongside them, I’d learned I could withstand fear and deprivation and help others. That shy orphaned farm girl was half a world away and in her place was someone I barely recognized—but I liked her a lot. Now I was strong, independent, and resourceful. Though saying no to George hurt like hell, I knew it was the right answer.”
― Elise Hooper, Angels of the Pacific: A Novel of World War II

“Libraries are viewed as such solemn places—but why? Reading is magic. Think of the imagination and sense of adventure that readers employ every time they crack open a book. There are few places filled with more magic than libraries, no doubt about it.”
― Elise Hooper, The Library of Lost Dollhouses

“Why did people always think she was so lucky? She worked like the devil to make good things happen.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“And the sooner you abandon the idea that life is fair, you will be more productive. This world doesn’t owe us a thing.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“We have the report your team doctor conducted before you boarded the S.S. Manhattan. This document is official and confirms your sex, so we do not need to conduct an exam.”

Relief flooded Helen, but something inside her sparked. A realization. Her relief morphed into something jagged and angry.
“Why didn’t this information get reported yesterday? Why were the newspapers allowed to perpetuate lies about me without the IOC coming to my defense sooner?”
― Elise Hooper, Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team

“Anna and the boys escorted me into Boston last week to meet with Mr. Niles about your book. Afterward, we rode on these marvelous little pontoons called Swan Boats in the Public Garden. An inventive fellow has capitalized on the bicycle craze and created a paddle-wheel boat in which the driver propels the boat by peddling—all while the driver’s presence is covered up by the statue of an enormous swan. Apparently, he was inspired by the German opera “Lohengrin” in which a knight of the Grail must cross the river in a boat disguised as a swan to rescue his princess. And you’ve said Boston has no culture! You would love the romance of these beautiful boats. Sadly, the man who invented the fanciful little fleet perished unexpectedly, yet his wife wants to keep the operation afloat.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“We appreciate your proposed editorial on the subject of encouraging women’s participation in sports, but after discussing it with our editorial team, we concluded a “Day in the Life” piece with a focus on your fashion choices would be far more popular with both our readers and sponsors.”
― Elise Hooper, Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team

“Marmee delivered to the poor. How many baskets could she make from this meal to deliver to families in the slums of Boston’s West End? Her family had its weaknesses but squandering blessings was not one of them.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“Nothing good comes out of girls thinking they’re something special.”
― Elise Hooper, Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team

“tulle crinolines and”
― Elise Hooper, The Library of Lost Dollhouses

“Better.” He nodded. “When in doubt, think back to the basic shapes to guide your work—triangles, circles, rectangles—there’s a system.”
― Elise Hooper, The Other Alcott

“Women’s track and field is under provisional status for these Olympic Games, and officials have given some indication that the ladies will not be asked to return because these feats of endurance can be too strenuous for the fairer sex."

Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its second president, always a staunch advocate of banning women from athletic participation, has made his vision of feminine participation clear by saying, “At the Olympic Games, a woman’s role should only be to crown the victors.”
― Elise Hooper, Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team