Home > Author > Meg McKinlay
1 " Alive. That was the first thing.A daughter. That was the second.They knew this without being told, without searching the newborn's features for some telltale sign. If the child had been a boy, the Mothers would have emerged empty-handed. They would have filed quietly from the house, leaving the family to their disappointment. A boy was simply another mouth to feed, another body to keep warm during the winter. A boy might wield an axe or trap a bird. He might mend a roof or skin a rabbit. Such things were useful; there was no denying it. But a daughter? A daughter could do those too, and much more besides. "
― Meg McKinlay , A Single Stone
2 " You don't always have to see the stars. Sometimes it's enough to know that they're there. "
― Meg McKinlay , Catch a Falling Star
3 " The smallest seed of doubt could grow so easily, split a girl open. "
4 " They watched as the bird disappeared, until the only sign it had been there at all was the quivering of branches, a handful of leaves falling quietly to the forest floor around them. There was no need for either to say what they were thinking. They had done a wrong thing, a right thing. They would tell no one ever. "
5 " I had always been the girl who focused quietly on the spine of a leaf while other kids ran around squealing. "
― Meg McKinlay , Below
6 " Nothing bad has ever really happened to her. She doesn't know things can change at any moment, that the bottom can drop out of the world. And that's a good thing. Of course it is. I wish I didn't know that, either. "
7 " Stars are already amazing. Science is amazing. Why do people have to try to make it all magical? "
8 " Her heart pounded, a caged thing beating wildly in her chest. "
9 " The lightest finger-touch, a whisper all its own. "
10 " There were always signs, if you cared to read them. "
11 " It felt like she was unraveling. Things she had thought long forgotten were all of a sudden right there, bright fibers of memory unspooling. And she had seen how this worked, how it began with one frayed corner, a single loose thread. It seemed harmless at first because it was just this small strand, so you tugged it a little, and before long you were pulling and pulling, unstitching the very fabric of things. "
12 " These things could not be undone, but the passage of time had softened the transgressions of the past. "
13 " This was the beginning of panic. She had seen it before - had watched it grow from a moment’s weakness and then spiral on and on, feeding on itself until it was beyond any control. "
14 " It was possible, after all, to be too close to a thing. By standing in the center of it, to make it invisible. "
15 " It was funny when you realized that none of the thoughts running through your head had made it into the outside world, that they were yours and yours alone. "
16 " All I can think is that I wish people would talk about Dad. I wish it more than anything in the world. "
17 " People are always asking that about books: What’s it about? It sounds like a simple question, but it isn’t. You could take all day to answer it if you really wanted to. And if the person asking the question really wanted to hear it. "
18 " People are always asking that about books: What's it about? It sounds like a simple question, but it isn't. You could take all day to answer it if you really wanted to. And if the person asking the question really wanted to hear. "
