Hmm... a list of book quotes collected by Leanne Dyck

photo by ldyck

December can be a challenging month for many, including me. So I thought I'd help us start the month on a positive note with this list of quotes--collected since 2012 from the books I've reviewed for this blog. I invite you to select a quote to act as an affirmation. Click on each book's title and the link will take you to my review.

'"Never be so focused on what you're looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find."' State of Wonder, Ann Patchett

'"It's what you learn after you think you know it all that counts."' Short, Holly Goldberg Sloan

 '[A] man finds what he looks for, and he who believes in a ghost will surely find a ghost.' Independent People, Halldor Laxness

'"Parents owe their children everything, always and unconditionally."' The Saturday Night Ghost Club, Craig Davidson

'Many hearts beating together make us stronger.' Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese

'[N]ormal is just a setting on the dryer.' Short, Holly Goldberg Sloan

'It's never the differences between people that surprise us. It's the things that, against all odds, we have in common.'  
Short, Holly Goldberg Sloan

'Do all the good you can/By all the means you can/In all the ways you can/In all the places you can/At all the times you can/To all the people you can/As long as you ever can -John Wesley's Rule' Wonder, RJ Palacio 

'The old us is a new us every day, and we have to accept that we will have a beginning and a middle and an end.' 
Short, Holly Goldberg Sloan

'We are saved by saving others.' Sweep, Jonathan Auxier 

 '"You can't have courage without fear."' Sweep, Jonathan Auxier 

'The goal to be reached and the determination to reach it are brother and sister, and slumber in the same heart.' Independent People, Halldor Laxness

'No matter what happens, the past has a permanence. The past is safe.' An Ocean of Minutes, Thea Lim

 Next Sunday evening...

December 8:  Christmas Secrets (short story)

I wasn't always this fine example of a human being. Next Sunday I'll reveal what a truly horrible child I was. Please don't judge me too harshly.

Sharing my author's journey...

Yesterday, November 30, I entertained a room full of people with my writing during a Storyteller Evening.

Book Review: Wonder by RJ Palacio (middle grade novel)

People with craniofacial disorder can't hide their "otherness". And you can't help noticing them. How do you react? Do you look away? Do you stare? Does misunderstanding or fear provoke you to...? Author RJ Palacio empathized. This empathy prompted her to act. She wrote Wonder. Her book inspired the Choose Kind movement.

'Do all the good you can

By all the means you can

In all the ways you can

In all the places you can

At all the times you can

To all the people you can

As long as you ever can' -John Wesley's Rule

Buy this Book

Publisher:  Knopf Books for Young Readers

Published in 2012

From kindergarten to grade four, August Pullman--a boy with craniofacial disorder--has been homeschooled. But in grade five, he enters public school.

How is he treated? Is he bullied for being different? Or does he find acceptance? 

Wonder is told by six diverse characters:  

Auggie

Summer, Jack (two of Auggie's classmates)

Via (Auggie's older sister)

Justin (Via's boyfriend)

Miranda (Via and Auggie's friend)

The first voice we hear is Auggie's:

'If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all... [T]he only reason I'm not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way.'

"Abby cuddling" ldyck