Bruce Coville Quotes

"...You should make someone a wonderful husband."

Even the tips of Jamie's ears were crimson now. But instead of retreating, he clenched his jaw and looked directly into her eyes.

"I suppose I would," he said. "Are you interested?"

Odds of a worm migration coming this way — about a billion to one. Odds of Elspeth improving her behavior without help — about the same. Sleep well, young friends.

There's lots of kinds of chains...You can't see most of them, the ones that bind folks together. But people build them, link by link. Sometimes the links are weak...That's another funny thing, now that I think of it. Sometimes when you mend a chain, the place where you fix it is strongest of all.

"We were having so much fun gossiping about the show that it was nearly half an hour before we got back to the subject of the microfilm. Actually, I was the one who got us on track again when I suddenly shouted, "July, 1935!" in a voice far too loud for the library.
Sam looked at me strangely.
"That's the date of the play," I said, blushing. "I just remembered it.

"Family isn't blood," she said bitterly, continuing to back away. "Family is who loves you, who takes care of you."

Chains...They bind us, whether we want them to or not. But a heart without chains would have nothing to hold it, might simply blow away.

The real heroes are the librarians and teachers who at no small risk to themselves refuse to lie down and play dead for censors.

Each of us is a miracle. Alas, it is a fact we too often forget.

"I like fixing things," he said as he worked. "The world is always breaking, here and there, this way and that. Fix a bit of it, and I feel like I'm helping."

The Kid in the Plain Brown Wrapper If Jennifer Murdley hadn’t been forced to wear her brother’s underpants to school, the whole thing might never have happened. But when she walked into the laundry room on the morning of October 13th, she found her father pouring liquid detergent onto a load of clothes that included every pair of underwear she owned. “Dad!” she screamed. “Wait!” She was too late. The tub was filling, her underwear was soggy and soapy, and there was no chance of getting any of it dry before she had to leave for school. “Don’t worry,” said Mr. Murdley, holding up a stack of neatly folded underpants, “you can wear a pair of these!” “You have got to be kidding! Those belong to Skippy!” The conversation that followed wasn’t pretty. The bottom line had been that Jennifer was going to school, and she was going to wear underwear, even if it did belong to her brother.

"Chains," said the Tinker, coming up behind her. "They bind us, whether we want them to or not. But a heart without chains would have nothing to hold it, might simply blow away."

My father told me that when he was a kid, it was the best place in Syracuse to go to the movies.
I told him I didn't think movies had been invented when he was a kid.
He said he loved me, but if I didn't shut up and fill out my audition form, he'd probably kill me.
I told him if he really felt that way he should give me a pen.

"In the reference room I got the second, but not the last, major shock of my day. I mean, who would have thought it? Librarians are supposed to be little old ladies. OK, I'll admit a lot of them aren't little and a lot more aren't old. But how many of them are guys who look good enough to be models?
The Hunk stood up as we crossed to his desk. "Can I help you young ladies?" he asked.
"Yes," said Chris briskly. "We'd like to look — "
"At your eyes," I finished, without realizing I was speaking out loud.
Chris jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow."

But it's often the case that our most intimate enemies are rooted in our own darkness.

You need them both, Thatcher. Talent and discipline. One without the other is useless.