Noticing Sentences

Lincoln Award Book, 2021 Way too relatable for my students ... I try not to stare at the scarf wound around her head. It's not that I've never seen this before. I've just never seen it live, in person. Especially here in Brookdale, the place crowned three years ago as the "Whitest Town in Maryland." p32 Privilege A human being would apologize. Would at least put the rifle away. but Mr. Danforth lacks the basic human firmware required for apologies. He rooted out those files and deleted them years ago. Being rich means never having to say you're sorry. p68-69 Emphasis mine. Discussion "Well, here's what I've noticed over the years: People-- men, especially-- are quiet for one of four reasons." She hands me the newly full glass and proceeds to tick them on her fingers: "They're hiding something. They're afraid of something. They have nothing to say. They have too much to say. Which is it for you?" p97 "Suck

Quotes But as Zora Neale Hurston famously warned, "If you are silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." p2 Poems I Saved Self/ Care p16-17 Panther p18-19 We Shall Overcome p22 Mermaids p26-27 Tsunami p28-29 We Are Wise p33 We Can't Breathe p34 "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley p49 Blessing p72 Lines I Loved "Boy," she demanded, "who taught you to hate your source?" p35

Quotes You don't have to suffer to be a poet. Adolescence is enough suffering for anyone. - John Ciardi Parents Protecting parents' feelings can be a full-time job. p59 Representation "Phoebe, you know all those novels about divorce? They're mostly for the kids who are just starting it. There should one about a kid who's lived with it for a long time. Then you'd see that we all survive it." p72-73 Nope He talks about Kilmer school spirit and how we should stand behind the school, no matter what. p118

Bluestem Book 2021 Shade  I just feel like there is a lot of shade in this book. It's could easily be a lot of different leaders, but the timing.... the whole episode of p 110-111 "But cowards seldom fight their own battles." p227 (Reading this on June 2, 2020 really hit.) "A king must be strong." p255 (The king himself says this.) What it means to be a hero "I'm not a hero," I say. "I didn't even know what I was DOING half of the time." p278-279

Lincoln 2021 Books U.S. versus other countries South Korea- p65 It's awkwardly formal compared to back home, where we usually all eat at different times, typically while in front of the TV or a book or our phones. Loneliness and noise. The American way. p92 Marcos is widely regarded by the world as a brutal dictator, continuing to stay in power after the end of his presidential term by declaring martial law. p147 It strikes me that I cannot claim this country's serene coves and sun-soaked beaches without also claiming its poverty, its problems, its history. To say that any aspect of it is part of me is to say that all of it is part of me. p227 Discussion I met one old woman who had been doing this every week for the last forty-eight years. even if God does not exist, this woman has been doing good in His name so maybe it does not really matter. p88 She hesitates, then adds, "Maybe you haven't developed a passion yet because you've spent your entire

Parents/ Parenting "You start them strong and they don't go wrong," he always says. p4 Community funeral and Curtis' speech p11 Love It "... I guess one day one of the Wright brothers walked up to somebody and asked it they had ever heard of an airplane. Just because it's new don't mean it's wrong girl." p190

Umm... hmm...no. When we learn to turn life's little "wrongs" into "rights," as Kae's story proves, Great Girls reach new heights. p29  (The "little wrongs" being discrimination and prejudice...) Her parents and siblings in California were uprooted and forced to move to a relocation camp in Arkansas because they were Japanese. p40  (Emphasis mine...)

Amazingly Said 2nd paragraph p 38 (Mike Jung) "Write what you know to be true." Write your lived experience into existence. Write your truth. p5 (Shaun David Hutchinson) The happiness someone wears and puts out into the universe should never be trusted to be the same amount of joy one has within. p181 (Adam Silvera) I really hope anyone reading this understands that if your "stupid" reason is eating you alive, then it's far from stupid. p183 (Adam Silvera) I write sad stories for teenagers because young adults need to see that there is no such thing as a happy ending when you're that age. Because life is more than your teenage years. p185 (Adam Silvera) Discussion 1st full paragraph on p 167 (Meredith Russo) Have you found your people yet? You absolutely must: they are going to make your life so much more enjoyable. p205 (s.e. smith) When so many people dislike you because of something you can't control, it turns out that you become an

On Sportsmanship "You pitched a great game, you really did. I'm proud of you. Unfortunately, your team is shitty... No you can't go getting mad at people because they're shitty. Life will get mad at them, don't worry." p13 Oh Sharing "I'm sorry, but if your brother doesn't want you to play with his shit, then you can't play with it. It's his shit. If he wants to be an asshole and not share, then that's his right. You always have the right to be an asshole-- you just shouldn't use that right very often." p33

Rebecca Caudill 2021 Book Age Never let it be said that the young are powerless or incapable. Never let it be said that youth is a liability. p57 Legacy We are fighting for our three lines in history just so that it will not be said that our youth went like sheep to the slaughter. p58 If they would not fight for millions of living Jews, perhaps they would fight for the memory of a single dead poet. p82 Prejudice "He is the enemy, Chaya! The war will end one day and the Germans will go back to their own land. But here we must live alongside thousands of people like that man. If we can't stop his hatred, this will happen again and again and again!" p104 "No, the Fuhrer of Germany has declared war on you and me, on all of us!" p137 "No, Chaya. As much as the Nazis want to take our lives, they want to take our faith, too." p139 "The hatred. I remember my father saying that he'd finally come to believe the world had moved past

Lincoln 2021 Book Gender I thought women were gorgeous no matter what they wore, and I didn't think they owed ayone an explanation for their sartorial choice. p49 gender and religion-- p49 Description There was something in Jacobi's eyes that was sympathetic in a way I'd never experienced before. It wasn't pity . It was recognition. He actually seemed to acknowledge me, my pain, and my anger, in a way no one else ever had. p108 Love it "Just try to be happy," Jacobi finally said to me. "Your happiness is the one thing these assholes can't stand." p108 "I don't want space," he said. "I've never wanted less space." p191 _______________________ "Aren't they your friends?" I said. If they were my friends," he said, "they'd be happy for me." p236 _______________________ The more I get to know people, the more I realized we were all just a bunch of frightened idiots wal

Whole Poems I Love "Spoken Word" p76-77 "About A" p103 "Sometimes Someone Says Something" p110 "Diplomas" p204 "Final Draft of Assignment 4 (What I Actually Turn In)" p248 "Other Things You Think About in the Split Second Your Notebook Is Burning" p311 Description He is an award-winning bound book, where I am loose and blank pages. p99 And now his smile is a little sad. And I think about all the things we could be if we were never told our bodies were not built for them. p188 Love It And about this apple, how come God didn't explain why they couldn't eat it? He gave Eve curiosity but didn't expect her to use it? p120 "I thought it would be cathartic to write something beautiful for yourself." p240 Because at least here with her, I know my words are okay. p264 She tells me words give people permission to be their fullest self. p345 "but I'll always have you

Then came another, more disturbing realization: The German POWs were being given more respect than the Black soldiers who had just fought for Europe's freedom. p79 The few Black soldiers who had been promoted to lieutenants out of necessity during the war were not allowed in the officers' facilities or clubs, despite having the same responsibilities as the white officers. We Blacks had risked our lives-- thousands had lost their lives-- to stop Nazism from spreading, to stop the Nazis' hatred and agenda of eliminating those people they segregated out, deemed as lesser, as unworthy. And yet in many respects we were being treated in the same way. p81 News item 6 December '45 Yesterday 140 Negro Soldiers were taken off of homebound ships in Le Havre by the Navy because there were no provisions for segregation. p84 Further, many of the Black vets from the war brought back the memories of how differently they had been treated by Europeans. They came back home not wan

Beautiful  They travel on perfectly straight paths from their broadcast source, and because the Earth is round, it does not take them long to part ways with the ground and head out to the stars. Wouldn't we all, if we had the chance? p1 Is this science? Religion? It is difficult even for scientists and saints to tell the difference between the two. Perhaps it doesn't matter. When you cultivate invisible seeds, you can't expect everyone to agree on the shape of your invisible crops. p2 "Even a small voice is still a voice." p9 Sometimes, when a question is about a secret, people will ask a different but related question, hoping to get an answer that will work for both questions. p13 It was just that Marisita was not sure that saints and witches were very different in the end. p61 This kindness, however, only made the situation worse for Pete. It emphasized that the person who was being cruelest to Pete was actually Pete. p111 But I, Diablo Diablo, thi

This whole book is just great for a feminist critical lens. Just... wow. I would particularly recommend King Thrushbeard, starting on page 47 "What servants?" answered the beggarman. "That which you want done you must do yourself. Make a fire quick, put on water, and cook me some food. I am very tired. p50  (In the exact same breath he tells his wife she has to do things for herself, he makes her do stuff for him.)

Bluestem 2021 Book Reading I snort. Most parents would be chuffed to have a kid who loves to read. p4 I stand in a long queue staring up at a war poster of Nazis burning books. The caption read, "Book are Weapons in the War of Ideas." I tuck my book under my arm. No wonder the Nazis don't want people to have them. For them, books are weapons. For me, stories are lifesavers. p274

Immigration p109-- WWII "Your grandparents worked really hard to build a life in this country," Mom said. "But they were also very proud of where they came from." p111 Identity "You always look down on stuff I like doing because I'm not being a senorita or not appreciating my culture. It's hard for me to figure out how to be me when you're always telling me it's wrong. I hate that you're always disappointed in me." p304 "I like to think of us as more like patchwork quilts," Mrs. Hidalgo said. "Some pieces are prettier than others. Some pieces match and some don't. But if you remove a square, you're just left with an incomplete quilt, and who wants that? All our pieces are equally important if they make us whole. even the weird ones." p309

Lincoln Award 2021 Book Description My body may have returned home, but my brain is still wired for war. p6-7 "You're a real military man now." p17 Discussion "You're a real military man now." p17 -- What does this mean? How does his grandpa mean it? Who does this exclude? How does it make Jake feel? We're not making a stand for democracy or freedom. We're just a bunch of scared nineteen- and twenty-ear-olds doing whatever we can to stay alive. p29 People who have good intentions, but can't comprehend that in so many cases "service" means that it you're not dead, you're physically and psychologically crippled for life. It means you will never, ever be the same. p41 all of the Brandi chapter starting on p 82-- the purpose of JROTC/ recruiting practices and targets war memorials discussion-- p124 drugs from the military- - p126 diversity/ inclusion in the military- 135 America has managed to be involved in

God sent the plagues because Pharaoh wouldn't let the Israelites go. And Pharaoh wouldn't let the Israelites go because God hardened Pharaoh's heart. What am I supposed to say to a God who does this to people? p217 They would let me move back in. But if I stayed, they would want me to play nice and go to church and pray to a God I don't believe in and/ or like before every meal. I can't do that. But if I didn't play along, I'd have to tell them the truth and let them believe I will burn in hell for eternity. I really want to find some middle ground, but I don't know where to look. There is only cold, dark air between me and the parents' house. p 217 I don't care if you like me or not. And it doesn't matter if you trust me. No one watches reality TV to see everyone get along. No one wants to see the nice guy finish first. You all want to see conflict. You want to see drama. You want arguments and hurt feelings and stupidity and tears. I do

As always, I've tried to avoid spoilers for this book itself, but this may include spoilers for book one, Carry On. American Magickal Culture "It could be anything!" I say. A wraith, a leach, a ghoul. Something specifically American: a gun demon, a prairie mog, one of those sirens who live in wells. Can coyotes drive cars? I know they can play poker, the Mage told me. p127 American Culture And why hasn't something shot us yet? Even toddlers in America have access to guns. p143 Boyfriend Comments I'll be damned and drawn and fucking quartered before I watch some devil-eyes goat feel up my boyfriend right in front of me. p142 Crowley, if this is what it takes to keep Simon in my arms-- gunshots and Quiet Zones and high-speed chases-- I'm here for it. I'll swear to it. I've found my vocation. p148 Other Baz is truly frightening when he's not pretending he's not a vampire. p146 "The Next Blood," he says, "are phy

I'm having a hard time with this book. Do we need biographies of Confederate leaders? Yes. We need to know about and understand that history. Do we need to be really careful about what/ how they say things? Yes. Here are parts that I marked to think about as I read this book. _____________________________ Some people see Jefferson as a hero who led a brave fight to keep the Southern states free. Others see him as a stubborn, foolish leader of a war that resulted in death for more than 600,000 Americans. p4 Varina was a mature, intelligent 17-year-old woman. p15 (This is the GIRL/ CHILD that Davis married.) Jefferson felt strongly about slavery. He believed that Southerners had the right to own slaves and that the North should mind its own business. He reasoned that slaves were simply property that some Southerners owned. Jefferson feared that freed slaves would take white people's jobs or property, marry white women, or become criminals. He believed freed slaves could no

They ask us to reset their milk-white bones. They ask us to use our gilded tools to recast every curve of their faces. They ask us to smooth and shape and carve each slope of their bodies like warm, freshly dipped candles. They ask us to erase signs of living. They ask us to give them talents. Even if the pain crescendos in waves so high it pulls screams of anguish from their throats, or if the cost threatens to plummet them into ruin, the men and women of Orleans always want more. And I'm happy to provide. I'm happy to be needed. p12 Gender The only other boy I've spoken to outside of a treatment salon was the son of Madam Alain, House Glaston, who I caught in the Belle storeroom powdering his face and smothering his lips with rouge-sticks while waiting for his mother to finish her treatments. He wanted to be a Belle. We were eleven and had laughed more than we'd talked. p24 "...And not to worry, girls, there's nothing I haven't seen." p68  Thes

Racism/ Discussions Jared: Ah, here we go. Not every white person who kills a black person is guilty of a crime. Pretty sure the courts proved that yesterday. p27 The cop shoves him to the ground beside the police cruiser as he asks if Justyce understands his rights. Justyce doesn't remember hearing any rights, but his ears had been ringing from the two blows to the head, so maybe he missed them. He swallows more blood. p7 I thought if I made sure to be an upstanding member of society, I'd be exempt from the stuff THOSE black guys dealt with, you know? Really hard to swallow that I was wrong. p12 There are people who don't see a man with rights when they look at me, and I'm not real sure how to deal with that. p37 Me: It's a conundrum: white people hold most positions of authority in this country. How do I deal with the fact that I DO need them to get ahead without feeling like I'm turning my back on my own people? p49 Excellent discussion on privi

Young Readers Edition Love it "My mom always says, 'Our ancestors fought too hard for us to give up now.'" p37 If you have no critics you'll likely have no success.- Malcolm X p121 "If he doesn't say anything positive to you when you win, then he doesn't get to say anything to you when you have a bad day. Period." p190 Bullying/ Prejudice "Those girls don't know what they're talking about, and their parents should be ashamed of themselves for letting them think that way," she said. p38 p112-114 p128-129 I desperately wanted my students to know that I wasn't their enemy, that we had a shared history in common, that they had descended from greatness and didn't have to ignore their education, but every attempt I'd made to get them to listen had failed. p145

Politics/ Systemic Racism/ 10 Stages of Genocide p20-21 p23- using Buddhist temples for relocation (relate to Holocaust) p36 p119 p122 p127 p149 Map/ Diagram p22 Democracy/ Hope p45 p121 p162 Duality of Experience p49 p116- question 27 p200 How to pronounce Takei p186

Description I let her talk because I didn't mind letting her fill the space between us in the way feathers filled a pillow, in that light and breezy kind of way that gave my brain a break from overthinking everything. p19 Friendship How did the simple routine of calling your best friend go from being something you did every day without thinking to something you sat on your bed worrying about? p172 That wasn't the Sara I knew. Maybe she wasn't really the Sara I wanted to know at all anymore. p195

Poems I Saved Lovebrarians p26-27 ignorance p83 strawberry-blonde fairy tales p129-131 if it please the court p153-156 conspiracy p169-173 blowing up p177-179 collective p180-184 emergency, in three acts p185-187 inappropriate dictators p190-191 innocence p192-193 triptych p210-212 Lines/ Pieces I Loved __________ "Can I take out all the books?" and she answered quite seriously "Of course, dear, just not at the same time." p27 _____________ Cold War nuclear-family meltdown p44 _________ Auntie Laurie says follow your nightmares instead cuz when you figure out what's eating you alive you can slay it p160 _____________ "Aren't you supposed to be competitors?" Walter took the mic and smiled "No," he said. "Not competitors. We're coconspirators, and we like it that way." p173 ______________ an unholy competition that no one wants to play. p179 ______________ a vengeance of pup

The dedication is just beautiful and should absolutely not be missed. Adults-- I am feeling, increasingly, like this would be an amazing book to pair with The Catcher in the Rye  I have lived a great deal among the grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them. p5 I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man. p5 _________ On making the discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said. Grown-ups are like that... p15 _______________ Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people. p17 He did not know how the world is simplified for kings. To them, all men are subjects. p41 It is only with the heart that one can see

Character I think VanLeer is an excellent character for a character study. There are some great parts to study here p125 p130 p142 p162 p188 p195 p209 p230-231 p235-236 p260-261 p333 Thought-provoking "Even the guilty recognize innocence when they see it. But you, Krensky, you must be in a place of ugliness all your own. Not going to be easy to rise out of that." p127 "Hmm... it's because of me. I know that's not the same thing as my fault." p185 What home means The whole book is great for this discussion, but here are a couple places I marked that were particularly good. p188 p199-200 p229 Quotes from ARC. Check with final copy.

Description Some of us camouflage our scrawny bodies in baggy shirts and slouch, just waiting for the day when we can fold into ourselves and vanish completely. p5 Love it "We don't have to be chosen ones or whatever to do good." p33 acceptance/ family p87 World-building crimes against celestials- p51 slippery slope of loss of rights p220-221 Shade I don't understand celestials who become bodyguards for politicians who are campaigning against their existence. p112 Powerful I shouldn't get to be crowned as the hero when everyone's suffering is my fault. And maybe we're not the saviors this city needs. p164 "Your humanity is what makes you heroic, not your powers." p168 "You've got a lot of blood on your hands for someone who cares so much about life." p253 I didn't grow up with powers, but I've been a brother for eighteen years. p263 Uncaught Typo Its red beak is sealed shut with iron, preventi

Great examples of journalistic bias throughout. Check out in between chapters and discuss how different the articles are from the story we're getting from the victim. Discussions It doesn't matter that the person I murdered was the most miserable excuse for a human being to ever walk this earth, shy of Hitler. It's knowing he didn't have a chance to find some humanity, that I took it from him. p18 Every day since-- all 588 of them-- his deep voice fills my head with hate-filled words. I don't share his hate. I really don't. But that doesn't stop the thoughts from creeping into my mind. p19 (A powerful thing to discuss. Just because a prejudices or racist thought comes into our minds, that doesn't mean we have to believe it or hold it. We can and must reject it.) Not that I'm much different-- seeing as how my first inclination was to kill her, too. But I didn't want to do it. My reaction was instinct, hers is ... judgement. p26 It sm

Shade And besides, it wasn't like the world was waiting with bated breath to read yet another essay about the importance of characterization in Spoon River Anthology . p22 Description ...that Joaquin's family tree seemed to have way too many scraggly branches and not enough roots, not the kind of roots you would need when the storm was strong. p53 He wished they would go away, because nothing was worse than someone wanting you to talk when the words you needed to say hadn't even been invented yet. p84 It felt a bit like she was heading toward a firing squad, except worse, because she knew she that instead of dying, she was going to have to stay alive through the whole day. And then the next one after that. p97 She said "You're the worst" in the way girls say things when they want boys to think that they're teasing, like, "You're the worse, but I still like you enough to hook up with you, even though you're the emotional equivalent

"Of course I love you," [he] insisted. "I'll always love you. But love isn't necessarily enough. You can't build a life on it." p387

"People want to be able to be themselves," she [Roxane Gay] says. "It's just important to show a range of different ways of living and moving through the world and different kinds of bodies and different backgrounds and cultures. We're not all the same, and there's nothing wrong with that." p29 "When you can't find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example." Manal al-Sharif p 29 "Owning who we are is power. Yes. We've got to dare to stand out."  Janet Mock p53

World-building You're not guilty of anything. But these days, actual guilt is an afterthought. p4 Even worse, although David got booted, too, only my parents and I were called in for a lecture about how I should know my place at school, keep my head down, and be grateful for the privilege of attending classes there. p6 Our military is diverse, but not this shiny, new branch. They're all white, it seems. A victory for nostalgic racists longing for the "good old days" of segregated units and separate bathrooms. p47 One detail that's impossible to miss? Just like in the train station, every person with a gun is white, and not white like maybe they're Bosnian-- the kind of white that thinks internment camps are going to make America great again. p64 I wonder what else they've built. What else can they do to us when America isn't looking? p80 Bystanders vs Upstanders I thought our little liberal college town would fight it longer, hold out. S

When Grandpa Reads to Me by John Micklos, Jr. p16 [I keep a photo of my Grandmother] by San Yee Kan p20 Still by Lee Bennett Hopkins p27

Great discussion of faithfulness/ consent- p 4-5 Achilles's sorrow monologue p182 Hector speaks to Achilles p221

My Favorite Poems from this one Emma Lazarus p13 Joseph Pulitzer p17 This book is great to pair with Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers.

*****I am avoiding spoilers for this particular book, but if you want to avoid spoilers for the SERIES, I suggest you do not read this post. LOL Her mother had said she needed to find her bliss. Who'd have thought it would be on an island in the middle of nowhere? p90  (irony) Perhaps it was his choice of famous residence that had brought him to Goddard's attention. Grouseland was, after all, the first brick home in the Indiana Territory. Damn. p200 Nietzsche, aside from having a name that was painfully difficult to spell... p200 (I feel like this is Shusterman putting his own little aside in here-- about having to type that name over and over.) "Maybe because I want you to use your hands for something more than pleasuring yourself." p362 Shade "With all due respect, it sounds like the world has been duped by a very charismatic and self-serving monster." p100 Because, after all, a thousand people gleaned in a mass even was such a small drop i

Poems I wanted to save "Rubber Twigs" p150-151 "Crowded Kalma" p153-155 "Flowers" p167-168 "Old Anwar's Lament" p191 "Wife" p192 "Mathematics" p229 "Talking to Sayidda Moon" p272-273 "Fly or Die" p282-283

LOL Not surprisingly, I haven't taken the breakup well, and I have no plans to take it well in the future. p18 "No one has anything to get up for. Life's pointless and everyone just gets up anyway. That's how the human race works," she says, and hands me a coffee. p19 According to George, it's a truth universally acknowledged that our family is shit at love. p21 I'd had my phone on silent all day and deliberately not checked, because it's a truth universally acknowledge that a watched phone never rings, especially when you're waiting on a text from your ex-girlfriend explaining why she doesn't love you anymore. p53 One of the great things about finishing high school is that you can finally get away from the dickheads. p54 ____________________ "She's my soul mate," I tell her. "Then I'm worried about your soul," she says, and goes back to serving the other customers. p67 ____________________ I'm

Irony They were singing Christian songs. I had grown up singing some of those songs in church, and I wondered why murderers would be singing them. p5 Life Lesson She would shush me. "It doesn't matter if he smells. He's still a person. A person is a person, no matter what," she said. "You must do what you can to help people. What you do comes back around to you." p34 "Beauty is in your head, not on your body," Dad would say. p141 It's exhausting when you think that you're not entitled to your emotions. p272 For genocide unit description of school p46-47 They [parents] were determined to raise us peacefully, even though we were growing up in a conflict zone. They taught us tolerance and forgiveness. I didn't understand why the Congolese kids were mean to us. I wanted to say to them, "Don't you have parents who teach you respect?" p46-47 an attack p63-65 another attack p73 Interhamwe p86 watching Hote

Awh For a second, I'm afraid he's dying. I have to remind myself that I don't care. p74 "That I knew I'd misjudged you. That you do love him. I'm not saying in what way. Maybe you don't know yourself. But anyone paying attention could see how much you care about him," he says gently. p156 ***What we consider a child-- p360*** Interesting to use in a discussion about how we talk about teens in the media today.

Description I couldn't believe it. For once I had actually said what I was thinking and something was happening about it. I felt a little flutter in my chest, like that split second when you're peering over the top of the hill on a roller coaster and then the weight grabs you and drags you down, and you're scared but really excited. p28. ________________________________ How do you say you like a thing? You can point to all the good parts. That you like how they ran away from home to a museum. That you like how Claudia packed her clothes in her empty violin case. That they slept in a big antique bed and took baths in the fountain. That they solve a mystery about an old statue. I like all that stuff about From the Mixes-up Files. But none of that is really the reason I've read it thirteen times and still want to read it again. That's something ... bigger. Deeper. More than all those things added together. How do you explain to someone else why a thing matters to

Religion "So perhaps now you see the truth of the temple," Bree says to Elizabeth. "It is not tradition but the word of the High Priestess that determines their course." p100 Politics "Friends," Emilia teases. "You are a queen now. You must say 'advisors.' Or 'counselors.' Or 'generals.'" p165 ***Chapter Indrid Down p 323 is where I felt like the writing started to feel more like plotting outlines than... writing.***