268 Quotes by Katherine Paterson

You’re the proverbial diamond in the rough”, she’d said to him once, touching his nose lightly with the tip of her electrifying finger.

Brenda burst in. “Do you know what some people do? They charge something and wear it, and then take it back and say it didn’t fit or something. The stores don’t give ’em no trouble.” Her father turned in a kind of roar. “I never heard such a fool thing in my life. Didn’t you hear your mother tell you to shut your mouth, girl!

In each of the separate sections Mother would put a different treat – sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, sesame cookies, and peanuts.

She jerked to life, her eyes wide open. “Why did that woman give me away?” Then it all began to pour out. Why had she been given away? We’d never told her she was a foundling.

My father loved peanuts and bought quantities of them to take along, only to find to his chagrin that peanuts were one of China’s leading exports. They also went to Chinatown, feeling that since they were headed for China, they should try Chinese food. The only thing on the menu that they recognized was chicken, but when it came the bones were black, so they were afraid to eat it.

He lived long enough to give the chaplain his name – John Goetchius – but died before he could tell the kind man where his home was.

I will arise,” he replied with dignity, “when thou removes this fool dog off my gut.

If you wanted to greet him or get his attention, you had to say: “Oh, Mr. Forest-Ranger-who-stands-in-the-tower-watching-out-for-forest fires!” If you abbreviated it, or, heaven help us, addressed him simply as “David,” you would get no response.

Leslie was one of those people who sat quietly at her desk, never whispering or daydreaming or chewing gum, doing beautiful schoolwork, and yet her brain was so full of mischief that if the teacher could have once seen through that mask of perfection, she would have thrown her out in horror.