Home > Author > A. Deborah Baker
21 " If they were both scared together, maybe things weren't so scary after all.Fear was a large and terrible monster. But fear could be conquered if enough people stood up against it. "
― A. Deborah Baker , Over the Woodward Wall (The Up-and-Under, #1)
22 " Bravery has its limits, no matter what the world.Zib tugged on her hair, which sprang right back into place when she let it go."I don't think you're a monster," she said. "You're talking. You're threatening. But you're still talking, not just attacking. I don't think you're a monster at all.""Some monsters speak, child," said the beast. "The very best monsters speak like kings and queens, eloquent and alluring. And the trick is learning not to listen. If you listen to those monsters, they'll have your heart out before you realize how much danger you are in. "
23 " I don’t want to fight people either,” said Zib, making no move to offer the sword back to him. “That doesn’t mean I won’t, if they make me. I’ll keep you safe.” Avery smiled. “I know you will,” he said. "
24 " Torture" is a big word to involve in a conversation about doing dishes; most people, when they hear it, will think of knives and needles and fiery brands pressed against unprotected skin. But the truth is, torture will take different forms for different people. Sometimes it can be hunger, or thirst, or cruel words. In Zib's case, it was the denial of adventure and the forced adherence to a part she had been refusing to play since the first time someone had spoken the word "girl" in her hearing. "
― A. Deborah Baker , Along the Saltwise Sea (The Up-and-Under, #2)
25 " How can a place be both Up and Under," Avery asks at one point. "Up a tree’s still under the sky," the Crow Girl answers. "
26 " I'm not very good at being a person," she said. "I think I lost the knack of it somewhere along the line, if I ever had the knack. But even I know you were just very cruel to her, and you should't be cruel to your friends when you have any other choice in the world. You need to go and apologize." "What?" asked Avery again, disbelieving this time, like he couldn't understand what she was talking about. "Why should I apologize for telling her that she can't go outside in a storm and get herself killed? That is just common sense! Would you be asking me to apologize if I'd let her go and be sweped away?" "No, because we wouldn't let you do that," said Niamh. "There's a difference between speaking truly and being cruel. You were cruel. You chose words you knew would hurt her, and you slung them like stones. Words have power. If they didn't, we wouldn't carry them the way we do. Sometimes, a word is the only weapon you have. Go apologize. "
27 " She's never going to forgive us for getting away from her."Jibson nodded slowly. "Some people are like that," he said."I don't think she's people," said Avery. "A blizzard isn't people. A bad storm isn't people. The Page of Frozen Waters is more like those things than she is like a people.""We can't decide who is and isn't people, even when we think we should be able to," said Jibson. "I've met a lot of people where it would have been easier to pretend that they weren't, but all the pretending there is wouldn't have changed what they were. As long as someone's still people, you have to treat them with kindness. "