Margaret Peterson Haddix Quotes

Because," he said in an even voice, "you're used to winning, so you don't even think about how, every time there's a game, both sides get that 'rah, rah, team' speech from their coaches both sides hear 'you're the best!' 'You've got to win!' 'You're the greatest!' But half of the people playing that game are going to walk away losers. Half!
Margaret Peterson Haddix
The truth is, time travel is hard, and people are lazy.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
He made time travel sound almost like hide-and-seek or capture the flag or some other spylike game--only with higher stakes and greater consequences.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
We will not be stupid girls. We will not be powerless girls. We will not be useless girls
Margaret Peterson Haddix
But it’d be nice to have someone who cared about me, someone I could talk toabout anything, someone who’d tell me I was really special.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
That porch is a happy-looking place, and my father - burdened, stoop-shouldered, cadaverously thin - doesn't seem to belong on it.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Jen, we did it. Everyone's free now.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
At times like this, Eryn didn't feel like they were just twins. They were teammates. They were partners. They were two halves of the same brain.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I can't go back to being who I used to be!'Hadley looked down at him sympathetically.'None of us can, kid.' he said. 'That's the point. You get what you get. Life changes you. Time travel or no, you always have to build on what you live through.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
But, really, are there any guys out there who aren’t jerks? I don’t even know any grown-up men who aren’t jerks.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
We can hope.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I was Pandora, bound and determined to open that box.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I loved to read when I was a kid, and as soon as I realized that an actual person got to make up the books I loved so much, I decided that that was the job for me.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
There's something about each of my books that I'm really proud of, and there's something about each of my books that I cringe over.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Ah, jeez... She really is a cheerleader.' And it seemed suddenly that this was true- not because she was an airhead or a hottie or a nonjock, but because she could throw herself so wholeheartedly into someone else's cause, because she could care so much and try so hard from the sidelines.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I was there laughing and joking with everyone else, but it’s like there was some part of mestanding back, watching, thinking, “Is this as good as it gets?
Margaret Peterson Haddix
He looked at the piles of food again, and it was like he was seeing it with new eyes. "This is wrong", he thought, "Letting food rot while people die of hunger. It's evil."....He breathed in the too-sweet smell of rotting food, "I can stop this evil.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Unlike my mother, my father does not cry quietly. His wails roll out like a wave of pain, and I scramble to roll up my window. My mother cannot hear that. I cannot bear to hear it myself. I am not used to my father's crying. I've had no time to harden my heart against him.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
The sudden silence is horrifying, and it seems to catch my mother off guard. A tiny whimper escapes her, the sound amplified in the stillness. Surely, my father hears her now; surely he and I can't go on pretending she isn't crying.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
But things are so bad, I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t do something.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Why didn't you tell me that evil could be so lighthearted?
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Governments will rise, and governments will fall, and man will do evil to man, and all we can do is turn our hearts to good.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I can tell you that you will have your hearts broken more by the people you love than by the people you hate. But you must still dare to love. The rewards are worth far more than the risks.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I start to think, 'It's awful being too poor to even buy my own dress for homecoming.' But that's instantly swept away by another thought: 'I'm so lucky that someone cates enough to loan me a dress.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I like the fact that kids are willing to be imaginative and go along with me when I'm telling strange tales.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
It’s like I’d been walking a tightrope with a big safety net underneath me, but I never really thought about the net until someone took it away. And then every single step scared me to death.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
To quote a famous philosopher revered in my time 'But this is no different from regular life. When have you ever known what's going to happen in the future?'" Wait a minute, Jonah thought. I said that. Back at Westminster, with Katherine. Does that mean I'm going to be a famous philosopher in the future? Does that mean I'm going to be revered? There wasn't time to ask.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Why did everyone like that story so much when it wasn't true? Why was everyone so eager to believe it? Was it because, in real life, ever after's generally stink?
Margaret Peterson Haddix
...is any history really all that ancient?...Doesn't every moment from the past affect the present?
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Ah, but is any history really all that ancient?' Second asked. 'Doesn't every moment from the past affect the present?' This man was more annoying than any history teacher Jordan had ever had.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I snorted "oh, beauty. What's that good for?"Mary stared, her eyes round."It won you the prince, did it not?"I snorted again, I prefer to think that he was captivated by my charming personality." I giggled to let Mary know I was trying to make fun of myself.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Was it still paranoia if all his fears were justified?
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Oh, Myr," he chokes out. "I hate having to ask this of you..."He glances towards the car again, and I crouch down in the shadows, hoping it's too dark for him to see whether the window is open or closed. The woman pats his arm, cradling her hand against his elbow."You know I'd do anything for you and Hil," she says. I like her voice. It's throaty and rich."You'd do anything?" my father repeats numbly. "Even now? After -?""Even now," the woman says firmly.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
A thousand times today I've started to open my mouth, started to squeak out, "Can you tell me...? But then I'd look into the front seat, at my mother's silent shaking, my father's grim profile, the mournful bags under his eyes, and all the questions I might ask seemed abusive. Assault and battery, a question mark used like a club. My parents are old and fragile. I'd have to heartless to want to hurt them.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
And Nedley started saying,'Shut Up!Quit that! And i knew it really meant something to him. So I asked for his help,"Mark said. "Don't tell the story like that," Nedley laughed. "What he said was 'Quit pretendin you're a bad guy I need your help, and I need it now!
Margaret Peterson Haddix
I want to Live! Not Die, Not Hide, LIVE!
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Maybe everyone is just waiting for someone else to save them.
Margaret Peterson Haddix