As a journalist, I am compelled to know the answers."" As a girl, I am compelled to protect what's left of my manicure," Petra said.

— Libba Bray

As a kid, I imagined lots of different scenarios for my life. I would be an astronaut. Maybe a cartoonist. A famous explorer or rock star. Never once did I see myself standing under the window of a house belonging to some druggie named Carbine, waiting for his yard gnome to steal his stash, so I could get a cab back to a cheap motel where my friend, a neurotic, death-obsessed dwarf, was waiting for me so we could get on the road to an undefined place and a mysterious Dr. X, who would cure me of mad cow disease and stop a band of dark energy from destroying the universe.

— Libba Bray

Because the pure girls get rescued." Mary Lou felt something she didn't let herself feel often. She was well and truly pissed off. "Why do girls have to be all pure and innocent and good? Why don't guys have to be?

— Libba Bray

Because 'You're perfect just the way you are,' is what your guidance counselor says. And she's an alcoholic.

— Libba Bray

Beliefs converge and become something new all the time.

— Libba Bray

Brought to you by The Corporation: In your homes and in your pants.

— Libba Bray

But Gemma, you could change the world."" That should take far more than my power," I say." True. But change needn't happen all at once. It can be small gestures."" Moments. Do you understand?" He's looking at me differently now, though I cannot say how. I only know I need to look away... We pass by the pools, where the mud larks sift. And for only a few seconds, I let the magic loose again." Oi! By all the saints!" a boy cries from the river." Gone off the dock?" an old woman calls. The mud larks break into cackles."' S not a rock!" he shouts. He races out of the fog, cradling something in his palm. Curiosity gets the better of the others. They crowd about trying to see. In his palm is a smattering of rubies. "We're rich mates! It's a hot bath and a full belly for every one of us!" Kartik eyes me suspiciously. "That was a strange stroke of good fortune."" Yes it was."" I don't suppose that was your doing."" I'm not sure if I don't know what you mean," I say. And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. Furthermore, one moment at a time.

— Libba Bray

But if we are to remain a great empire, we must have a greater understanding of the hearts and minds of others.

— Libba Bray

But the past cannot be changed, and we carry our choices with us, forward, into the unknown. We can only move on.

— Libba Bray

But we can't go back. We can only go forward.

— Libba Bray