Quotes from Ann M. Martin

The burial service began. It was quite short, but Stacey remembers much more about it than I do. All I remember is thinking, as the casket was being lowered into the ground, Mimi's not in there. So I didn't cry. A bunch of men were just putting a box in the ground. That was all. Then Mom made me throw a white rose into the hole. I thought, What's the point? Mimi won't see it, but I did it anyway (since we were being formal).

She thought of Mama making dresses for her and Rose because handmade was cheaper than store bought

Two eleven-year-olds riding the subway alone?

An average person has an IQ of 100. An above-average person has an IQ of 120 to 140. A person with an IQ of 150 is considered a genius. Janine's IQ is 196. Sometimes

All I wanted was something normal, a day like last Tuesday when Mimi was still alive, which was less than a week ago. I wanted to walk to Stoneybrook Middle School with Mary Anne, open the side door, which we sometimes use because it's close to my locker, saunter through the halls, look for the other club members or maybe for Dorrie Wallingford or Ashley Wyeth or some other friend, and hope that a boy would notice my outfit and smile at me.

I felt like a fool. A rotten sitter. Kristy the Careless. Everyone in town was going to see Jackie with his cane. Of course they would ask what happened and they'd find out the truth. He'd been left unsupervised by his sitter in his own backyard. If there were such things as sitting licenses, mine would be revoked.

I know," answered Kristy. "Listen, Jessi and Mal both want to say hi and then we'll have to go. Well, except for Claudia. It's after six." "Okay," I replied. So I talked to Jessi and asked about her dancing, and about Becca and Squirt. "Hey, how's Charlotte?" I wanted to know. Charlotte Johanssen is Becca

thought for sure someone would screech or gasp or fall off the bed.

I wished my dad had seen it.

It's not funny," I said. But suddenly, it was. I imagined the police taking mug shots of Janine and booking her for "incompetent makeup application," and "meal tardiness." I giggled. Stacey giggled. Soon we were completely hysterical.

You wrote the scary letters!

She sounded pretty certain. I wasn't so confident.

I kept second-guessing my decision. Half the time, I'd wanted to call every BSC member and say, Just kidding! The other half, I'd felt this sense of relief. Yes, relief. It was faint, but it was definitely there.

Hmmph. This was a sorry excuse for a baby-sitting club.

We put them together so we'd never forget our family feud.

Part of me had hoped my BSC friends had planned this whole thing as a huge April Fool's joke seven months early. We'd all have a big laugh and go back to the way we were, loyal and full of group spirit. But here's the other side: even though my mind was a mess, my body felt the strangest sense of calmness, as if I'd just taken a swim on a Hawaiian beach. I felt free. Free and peaceful.

Fires and all, it was one of my best experiences ever.

took the inchworm off my shoulder and put it on Sally's pillow to see how she'd react.

Revenge is a dish best served cold

maybe Derek would be able to help me with my science homework.

As much as I loved living in Stoneybrook, I wanted to move back to California. Permanently.

held her sister's had protectively.

Then I realized I smelled like horses and manure

And I knew it would.