Holly Smale > Quotes

“Nobody hopped into a wardrobe to find Narnia; they hopped in, thinking it was just a wardrobe. They didn't climb up the Faraway Tree, knowing it was a Faraway Tree; they thought it was just a really big tree. Harry Potter thought he was a normal boy; Mary Poppins was supposed to be a regular nanny. It's the first and only rule. Magic comes when you're not looking for it.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“I didn't need to transform after all.
My name is Harriet Manners and I am a geek.
And maybe that's not so bad after all.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Nobody really metamorphoses. Cinderella is always Cinderella, just in a nicer dress. The Ugly Duckling was always a swan, just a smaller version. And I bet the tadpole and the caterpillar still feel the same, even when they're jumping and flying, swimming and floating.

Just like I am now.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“1. You left a multipack of Mars Bars on top of your wardrobe. Can I have one? Dad x

2. I had three. Hope that's OK. Dad x

3. I'm just going to have one more. Dad x

4. Harriet, your Dad's made himself sick on an entire multipack of Mars Bars again. Please don't leave sweets where we can find them. A x”
― Holly Smale, Model Misfit

“Because here's the thing about a book: when you pick up a story, you put down your own”
― Holly Smale, All That Glitters

“You need to stop caring what people who don't matter think of you. Be who you are and let everybody else be who they are. Differences are a good thing.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“My name," I tell Wilbur in the most dignified voice I can find, "Was inspired by Harriet Quimby, the first female American pilot and the first woman ever to cross the Channel in an aeroplane. My mother chose it to represent freedom and bravery and independence, and she gave it to me just before she died."

There's a short pause while Wilbur looks appropriately moved. Then Dad says, "Who told you that?"
"Annabel did."
"Well, it's not true at all. You were named after Harriet the tortoise, the second longest living tortoise in the world."

There's a silence while I stare at Dad and Annabel puts her head in her hands so abruptly that the pen starts to leak into her collar. "Richard," she moans quietly.
"A tortoise?" I repeat in dismay. "I'm named after a tortoise? What the hell is a tortoise supposed to represent?"
"Longevity?”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Oh." Dad frowns. "Why hasn't Annabel been teaching you how to walk in heels? I thought we had an agreement: I teach you how to be cool and she trains you how to be a girl."

I stare at him in silence. This explains so much.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Your daughter is adorable. I've never seen such an alien duck in my entire life.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“It's the first and only rule. Magic comes when you're not looking for it.”
― Holly Smale

“She's....having an affair with a strawberry jam manufacturer?”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“The internet lied to me?”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Have you been sniffing glitter again?”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Tortoises are incredible creatures," Dad says earnestly. "What they lack in elegance and beauty they more than make up for in the ability to curl up and defend themselves from predators."
"What, like me?”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Never underestimate the power of a well-placed apostrophe.”
― Holly Smale, Model Misfit

“That's the truth about people with obsessively organised plans: we're not trying to control everything in our lives. We're trying to block out the things we can't.”
― Holly Smale, Model Misfit

“...Our stories are drive by who we are and what we do, and not by the events that happens to us.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“I came to get you. I knew you'd freak out."
"But..." My head still feels like a helium balloon. "Why?"
Nick looks blank. "Because you always freak out."
I shake my head. My voice feels like I've swallowed it. "I mean, why do you care if I freak out?"

There's a long silence.

"Well," Wilbur finally bursts, "I can take a shot in the dark, if you want."
"Seriously," Nick snaps, making his fingers into a gun shape. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark in a minute and it will make contact."

Wilbur looks charmed. "Isn't he adorable?" he says fondly. "My duty as Fairy Godmother is complete, anyhoo, and I believe it's time to spread my magic dust elsewhere. So many pumpkins after all; so little time.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Nick? Any idea?"
Nick coughs too. "Nope. No idea at all."
Wilbur gives him a stern look. "So what was the point in doing all the Jane Austen stuff if she doesn't know about it, Poodle-bottom?”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“I suddenly realise that it doesn't matter how far I go, or how lost I am, or how lonely I feel. I fit in here. I always will.
That's how I know I'm home.”
― Holly Smale, Model Misfit

“We don't have time for all this adorable Darcy and Lizzie tension, Kitten-cheeks.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Well?" Nat says after a few seconds. "I'm surprised you're here again, Harriet. I thought you'd be busy auditioning for A Midsummer Night's Dream."
I blink a few times in surprise. "No. I'm not."
"You should be. I heard they're looking for an ass."

Oh. Now why can't I think of quips like that when I need them?”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“Gary nips my finger and starts clawing his way up my shoulder, hissing like an angry kettle. It's just not natural for something so cute and fluffy to be so nasty.

I look at Nick in distress. "Why is he spitting at me?"
"Maybe he thinks he's a llama.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“She's probably so mesmerized by her own beauty she can't move away from the mirror," I hear Wilbur stage-whisper. "It's why I'm always late." Then he knocks on the door as well. "Look away from the reflection, baby," he shouts through the wood. "Just look away and the spell will be broken.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“The rest of my Thursday can be summarised thus:
- Nat tells me to bite her.
- I don't.
- I am forced to sit next to Toby for the entire two-and-a-half-hour return coach journey.
- He tells me that water is not blue because it reflects the sky, but actually because the molecular structure of the water itself reflects the colour blue and therefore our art teacher is wrong and the authorities should be alerted.
- I pull my jumper over my head.
- I stay under my jumper for the next two hours.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“My impact on hearts is like an earthquake happening on the other side of the world: if I'm lucky, I can hope for a teacup tinkling in its saucer. And even then it's a bit of a surprise and everybody talks about it afterward.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“It's 4:40am and i'm standing in the middle of a Quentin Tarantino version of Finding Nemo”
― Holly Smale, Model Misfit

“Our future selves are only as good as our past selves believe we can be”
― Holly Smale, Picture Perfect

“This might surprise you, but here's a fact: people who plan things thoroughly aren't particularly connected with reality. It seems like they are, but they're not: they're focusing on making things bite-size, instead of having to look at the whole picture. It's procrastination in its purest form because it convinces everyone—including the person who's doing it—that they are very sensible and in touch with reality when they're not. They're obsessed with cutting it up into little pieces so they can pretend it's not there at all.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl

“If I tell you, you'll panic."

"I won't."

"You will. You'll panic, and then I'll panic, and then you'll panic again, and she'll be able to tell we're weak and she'll eat both of us.”
― Holly Smale, Geek Girl