I think buddy is man talk for sweetie. - Emma Donoghue

When I was a little kid I thought like a little kid, but now I'm five I know everything.

Are stories true?
"Which ones?"
"The mermaid mother and Hansel and Gretel and all them."
"Well," says Ma, "not literally."
"What's—"
"They're magic, they're not about real people walking around today."
"So they're fake?"
"No, no. Stories are a different kind of true."

Scared is what you're feeling," says Ma, "but brave is what you're doing.