Hannah Kendall

“The birds here make the birds in England look like they’re dressed for a job interview.”
― Katherine Rundell, The Explorer

“When you get home, tell them how large the world is, and how green. And tell them that the beauty of the world makes demands on you. They will need reminding. If you believe the world is small and tawdry, it is easier to be so yourself. But the world is so tall and so beautiful a place.”
― Katherine Rundell, The Explorer

“Actually’, said Tommy, who'd made a surprise appearance in the hallway outside Storm and Beck's cabin door, ‘as you know better than any-body, Storm, because you totally memorized the whole nautical-terminology entry on Wikipedia, ballast is something placed on a vessel to, um... what was it again?’
Storm couldn't help but fill in the blank for Tommy: ‘Provide desired stability.’
‘Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Ballast on, like, a balloon, can, um..’
Storm smiled a little. ‘Control the center of gravity.’
‘Exactly,’ said Tommy. ‘You're our rock, Storm.
In a good way. Not like, you know, gravel. Or a rock in your shoe.”
― James Patterson, Treasure Hunters

“Shivering slightly, we all moved together to form a close circle and hug one another tight.
The four of us were the only family we had left. Tommy, who’d been living on boats longer than any of us, started mumbling an old sailor’s prayer: “Though Death waits off the bow, we’ll not answer to him now.”
I hoped he was right.
But I had a funny feeling that Death might not take no for an answer.”
― James Patterson