Keely > Keely's Quotes

“The way he said her name made my heart cramp. In all my years of word collecting, I've learned this to be a tried and true fact: I can very often tell how much a person loves another person by the way they say their name. I think that's one of the best feelings in the world, when you know your name is safe in another person's mouth. When you know they'll never shout it out like a cuss word, but say it or whisper it like a once-upon-a-time.”
― Natalie Lloyd, A Snicker of Magic

“Stories aren't peaceful things. Stories don't care how shy you are. They don't care how insecure you are, either. Stories find their way out eventually. All you gotta do is turn 'em loose.”
― Natalie Lloyd, A Snicker of Magic

“Home isn't just a house or a city or a place; home is what happens when you're brave enough to love people.”
― Natalie Lloyd, A Snicker of Magic

“It's so weird how life is so full of moving around--people coming and going, people passing by each other all day long. You never know which person's going to steal your heart. You never know which is going to settle your soul. All you can do is look. And hope. And believe.”
― Natalie Lloyd, A Snicker of Magic

“I watched the early morning light pass over and through the windows of colored glass, leaving streaks of red and green and yellow on the stone floor. When I was little, I used to try and capture the colored light. I thought I could hold it in my hand and carry it home. Now I know it is like happiness-- it is there or it is not, you cannot hold it or keep it.”
― Karen Cushman, Catherine, Called Birdy

“Not fair? Oh, I'm sorry I get this lovely laptop computing device when all you get is the ability to walk, control your hands, and know you'll survive until your eighteenth birthday." Then the kid was going, "Uh, I didn't mean..." But Tad wasn't done yet. While the whole class watched in horror, he put his hands through the metal support braces on the arms of his wheelchair and forced himself to stand up. Then he took a shaky little step to the side, gestured toward the chair, and said, "Why don't you take a turn with the laptop? You can even have my seat.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, After Ever After

“Instead of agonizing about the things you can't change, why don't you try working on the things you CAN change?”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“Or maybe...their biggest fear is that they will get close to you again, and you'll go and drop dead.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, After Ever After

“The only time I can ever remember Steven crying over any of it was after my treatment, when I tried to use my foot on his bass drum pedal, and we realized I could never play a drum set.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, After Ever After

“He also said that if anyone did anything to mess up the rest of the testing, he was going to call 911 personally.
Yeah, like that wouldn't make it into the nightly news again: WHEELCHAIR-BOUND CANCER PATIENT ARRESTED FOR FREE SPEECH.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, After Ever After

“Take care, Jeffy. I’ll see you soon, right? Just remember not to throw food at the nurses. I don’t want to get any complaint calls, OK?
Steven, I don’t throw food at…oh, that was a joke, right?
Yup, buddy boy. It was a joke. But seriously, no kissing the nurses on the lips, either. It messes up their makeup.
Eeeeeeewwwww!”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“Me: Well, you see, I, uh, I'm a cancer survivor.
Person #1: And how's that working out for you?

Me: Well, you see, I, uh, used to have leukemia.
Person #2: Dude, how come you're not, like, BALD?

Me: Well, you see, I, uh, I had acute lymphocytic lymphoma when I was five.
Person #3: Whoa. THAT must'a sucked. I once had my tonsils out...”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, After Ever After

“I’ll probably just stand in a corner, trying not to be noticed, until the decoration committee accidentally packs me into a box at the end of the night. There I will lie, crammed in between rolls of crepe paper, until the New Year’s dance two months from now.
Jeffrey thought about this for a moment and said, Won’t they notice the box is too heavy when they go to put it away?”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“Oh, good lord, Jeff. Don't go getting all emotional on me. I've been getting it from my mom, my dad, my sister, the freaking MAILMAN--I don't need it from you, too. All I ask is that you promise me one thing.'
'What?'
'Just water the plants while I'm gone, all right?'
'You don't have plants, Tad.'
'I know. I just always wanted to say that.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, After Ever After

“It was like seeing Bill Gates at age thirteen, times two. And half of him was wearing a cheerleader uniform. Yes, I know that’s a weird image.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“Steven, I know I phrased that as a question, but it was really a command.
Yes, but mine is…ummm…private.
Private, Steven?
Yes, Miss Palma.
PRIVATE Steven?
Again with the capital letters?”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“And if there was one thing I'd finally figured out, it was that your mind is something you always CAN change.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“Some kids do drugs. Some kids light stuff on fire. Me, I eat oats.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, After Ever After

“I seriously think I could have sat in the middle of the kitchen floor rubbing two sticks together over a pile of dynamite blocks and gasoline cans, and my parents would be oblivious, as long as I was keeping myself occupied.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“With a heavy heart, I turned and walked away. I knew that as long as I lived I'd never forget the two little graves and the sacred red fern.”
― Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows

“Steven, I look like a raccoon.
You do NOT look like a raccoon.
Actually, he looked like some deranged anteater, but I didn’t figure that would be the thing to tell him.
Yes, I do. Oh, no. What if I stay this way forever?
You’re not going to stay that way forever, Jeffy. People get black eyes all the time. If they never got better, the streets would be crowded with raccoon people. Soon the raccoon people would find each other and breed.
I was on a roll here.
The preschools would fill up with strange ring-eyed children. Soon the raccoons would be taking over our streets, stealing from our garbage cans, leaving eerie tails of Dinty Moore beef stew cams in their wakes. Gangs of them would haunt the malls, buying up all the black-and-gray-striped sportswear. THE RIVERS WOULD RISE! THE VALLEYS WOULD RUN WITH…
Steven you’re joking, right?”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“The phenomena of nature, especially those that fall under the inspection of the astronomer, are to be viewed, not only with the usual attention to facts as they occur, but with the eye of reason and experience.”
― William Herschel

“I found her lying on her stomach, her hind legs stretched out straight, and her front feet folded back under her chest. She had laid her head on his grave. I saw the trail where she had dragged herself through the leaves. The way she lay there, I thought she was alive. I called her name. She made no movement. With the last ounce of strength in her body, she had dragged herself to the grave of Old Dan.”
― Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows

“If you promise you will get better instead of dying, I promise I will, too.”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“What I saw was more than I could stand. The noise I heard had been made by Little Ann. All her life she had slept by Old Dan's side. And although he was dead, she had left the doghouse, had come back to the porch, and snuggled up by his side.”
― Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows

“Instead of agonizing about the things you can't change, why don't you try working on the things you can change”
― Jordan Sonnenblick, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

“Old Dan must have known he was dying. Just before he drew his last breath, he opened his eyes and looked at me. Then with one last sigh, and a feeble thump of his tail, his friendly gray eyes closed forever.”
― Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows

“And if you say 'I love you,' and you mean it, then love makes up for a whole lifetime of mistakes. That's some kind of magic.”
― Natalie Lloyd, A Snicker of Magic

“There is a little good in all evil.”
― Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows

“I'm sure the red fern has grown and has completely covered the two little mounds. I know it is still there, hiding its secret beneath those long, red leaves, but it wouldn't be hidden from me for part of my life is buried there, too.

Yes, I know it is still there, for in my heart I believe the legend of the sacred red fern.”
― Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows