(Jeannette Walls)

• I wondered if the fire had been out to get me. I wondered if all fire was related, like dad said all humans were related, if the fire that had burned me that day while I cooked hot dogs was somehow connected to the fire I had flushed down the toilet and the fire burning at the hotel. I didn't have the answers to those questions, but what I did know whas that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes. (pg. 34)
• That was the thing to remember about all monsters, Dad said: they love to frighten people, but the minute you stare them down, they turn tail and run. "All you have to do, Mountain Goat, is show old demon that you're not afraid." (pg. 37)
• "Everyone has something good about them," she said. "You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that."
  • "Oh yeah?" I said. "How about Hitler? What was his redeeming quality?"
  • "Hitler loved dogs," Mom said without hesitation. (pg. 144)