By the time I reached school, I was shaking. I felt as if my entire world had warped and twisted like a funhouse mirror. Nothing was the same as it had been a month ago.
Mom is the head librarian at the local public library. This has been a big boon to Janine, who needs books the way most people need food and water.
But when Danielle thinks of the future, she thinks of fifth grade, maybe sixth grade. She wishes to be able to graduate from Stoneybrook Elementary. When Kendra thinks of the future, she thinks of college, of being an adult, of becoming a writer. Kendra has a future. Danielle has a future, too, of course, but hers is much more uncertain.
Life is not fair, I had reminded myself. Everybody gets a bad break from time to time. The important thing is not what those breaks are, but how you deal with them. If I ever got as sick as Danielle, I hoped I could also be as cheerful and funny and realistic as she was.
She had on black jeans, a black cropped cotton sweater, and soft, scrunchy ankle boots. The color made her blue eyes look dramatic, and her earrings, which were tiny coils of gold braid, finished the outfit.
It was a gloomy day, gloomy outside and gloomy inside. Nobody felt like having a meeting of the Baby-sitters Club. Dawn and I were depressed, Claudia was mad because she’d flunked a spelling test, Mary Anne was upset because her kitten, Tigger, had worms and Stacey was upset because she had a doctor’s appointment coming up and she hates doctor’s appointments.
Why did Mr. Stupid tiptoe past the medicine chest?” shrieked Claire. “Because he didn’t want to wake up the sleeping pills!” she answered herself.
There are people you’ve known a long time and you know you’re never really going to like. And there are people that you meet and grow to like. Then there are people you meet and you like instantly.
Everyone says little kids don’t break, but they do. Inside. I broke when my father walked out on us.
Well, to make a long story short, I had this long talk with my baseball coach. And I started reading about depression. I learned that it can be serious. You shouldn’t ignore it. Talking about it can help. So can a long trip.
Maybe being a “princess” isn’t so great. Would you always wonder whether people liked you or whether they liked the things you could do for them.
I guess buying food almost anywhere is more interesting than eating what comes out of your own refrigerator.
My heart was acting like a prisoner in the Tower of London, banging against the walls. I had to hold my hand against it. I was afraid it would escape.
My mother says I am a pack rat. So what? Pack rats are probably very nice animals. And I bet they’re prepared for anything. I know I am.
I don’t know what to do with the space. Rain used to fill it. How do you fill empty space?
When Mary Anne first started knitting, the sound reminded me of soft rain on a cozy night. After awhile, it was like mice skittering on a tile floor. Now I was thinking about skeleton bones rattling in a grave.
There are going to be some things in life that you can’t change.
When two people are having problems, it’s hard to tell who has changed.
Emily, I decided, was the best Mother’s Day present ever.
I just love checking our mailbox. There is something about getting mail that is exciting. Going out to the box each afternoon is sometimes the highlight of my day.
And having said that, I got up and stalked off to the school library, where I went looking for Little Women. It’s one of my favorite books, and I thought that reading some familiar passages might be comforting.