327 Quotes by Jacqueline Woodson

Who hasn’t walked through a life of small tragedies?

I didn’t know it would be people you barely knew becoming friends that harbored you. And dreams you didn’t even know you had – coming true. I didn’t know it would be superpowers rising up out of tragedies, and perfect moments in a nearly empty classroom.

But she didn’t believe in God. Or Jesus. Or Satan. Or prayer. I believe in words, she said. I believe in numbers and all the history I understand. I believe in things I can see. When he was a little boy she used to hug him and say, And man-oh-man how I believe in you, Aubrey. My love. My light. My life.

The empty swing set reminds us of this – that what is bad won’t be bad forever, and what is good can sometimes last a long, long time.

Age will do that to you. Soon as something starts coming to your mind, it snatches it back. Makes you forget the stuff you want to remember. Brings back the memories you’re busy trying to forget.

Tragedy is strange. It takes away. And it gives too” -Haley.

When we asked, What do you love? Sylvia looked around her perfectly pink room and said, I’m not the boss of me. How the hell would I even know.

When you’re 15, pain skips over reason, aims right for the marrow.

I work hard, he says, I treat people like I want to be treated. God sees this, God knows.