Birdsall Quotes & Sayings

The sky was a rich cloudless blue, the air still and dry, the maple trees glowing with glorious reds and oranges and yellows, and everywhere on Gardam Street squirrels bustled about with self-importance, burying their nuts in the most unlikely places. — Jeanne Birdsall

No, you stupid idiot, there's nothing wrong with you. You're perfect. — Jeanne Birdsall

More women speaking up and seizing the helm of power can create its own momentum. It can change the culture that helps perpetuate those external forces. — Nancy Birdsall

And I don't know if Batty's gotten over it yet,' said Skye.
Mr. Penderwick looked out the window to where Batty was playing vampires with Hound. Hound was on his back, trying to wiggle out of the black towel Batty had tied around his neck. Batty was leaping over Hound's water bowl, shrieking, 'Blood, blood!'
'She looks all right,' he said. — Jeanne Birdsall

She had to defend the people she loved the best. — Jeanne Birdsall

The referee told me this league has never had a brawl of that magnitude," said Mr. Penderwick after a long, painful silence. "Of course, at the time I was pretending to be a casual passerby and not a father at all. — Jeanne Birdsall

Maybe I can drown him in the lily pond. — Jeanne Birdsall

A masterly analysis of how political interests, economic circumstances, development strategies, and local history have shaped what are surprisingly different versions of the welfare state across the developing world. The authors combine fine-grained country analyses with intelligent use of data, and explain and extend the theory and literature on the modern welfare state. The book is both scholarly and readable. — Nancy Birdsall

He'll come," said Rosalind. "He's got to. — Jeanne Birdsall

This set off a series of additional questions from Batty, which Iantha gracefully took on, giving Rosalind the chance to slip away unnoticed. She crossed the street to the Geigers' house, headed round to the back, and knocked on the kitchen door, just as she'd done a thousand times before. — Jeanne Birdsall

It's not right to shoot someone because they're not intelligent. — Jeanne Birdsall

Skye, no one except you believes in the possibility of Batty blowing up. — Jeanne Birdsall

Aunt Claire, may I ask you a question?" "Ask away, young Jedi. — Jeanne Birdsall

Even a tiny bit of deceit is dishonorable when it's used for selfish or cowardly reasons.
- Mr. Penderwick — Jeanne Birdsall

I wonder who my father is when he isn't just my dad, the guy who helps me with my math homework...He is someone who grew up, who had dreams, who maybe lost them, who fells things. — Olivia Birdsall

I guess I like to dance because...it just feels natural...It's an outlet for my energy...It's like a langauage all my own that other people can translate and enjoy for themselves but only I know what it really means to me. — Olivia Birdsall

Holy bananas, said Skye. — Jeanne Birdsall

Quidquid agas prudenter agas et respice finem ... Skye was used to hearing this phrase, which Mr. Penderwick translated loosely as look before you leap and please don't do anything crazy. — Jeanne Birdsall

Donit kill her now, just when we've gone to all that trouble to rescue her, said Jeffrey. — Jeanne Birdsall

She sat down again. "Oh, Dominic, love has no measure." "What?" "I mean, yes, please kiss me. — Jeanne Birdsall

Am I odd?Is there something wrong with me,like Mrs.Tifton Said?"
Skye knelt down on the wet grass and looked straight into Batty's eyes. "No you stupid idiot,there's nothing wrong. with you. — Jeanne Birdsall

Mere children, ha!" said Jane. "I say we tie up the knave and then discuss his fate."
Since everyone thought this a good idea, Batty and Hound donated Jeffrey's neckties, and soon Bug Man, aka Sock or Spock, aka Norman Birnbaum, was bound hand and foot. Jane, Batty, and Hound then took a few minutes to be Aztec priests calling for blood, until Rosalind quieted them down. Norman was slime, but that was no reason to terrify him.
Then came a long discussion about what they should do next... Jane's suggestion of throwing Norman into their basement so that he could dwell on his sins was rejected outright. — Jeanne Birdsall

This is truly a sad comedown for a man and a Geiger. Please say you'll talk some sense into him. — Jeanne Birdsall

Ladies and dogs," said Jeffrey, "we are about to perform 'Fanfare for the Uncommon Seal.' " "With apologies to Aaron Copland, — Jeanne Birdsall

Snooty high heels. — Jeanne Birdsall

Ben noticed the odd procession making its way up Gardam Street. Batty slowly pushing Lydia in her stroller-this he understood-but what kind of creature was that, struggling to keep up with them? "Batty's got a huge guinea pig on a leash," said Rafael, squinting to bring the scene into better focus. "Like the hugest one in the world." "Its nose is too pointy for a guinea pig. More like the hugest rat in the world." neither of the boys wanted to meet a huge rat, but they refused to run from something Lydia didn't seem to be afraid of. So they stood their ground and, as the procession came closer, were relieved to see that the giant rat was only a fat dog with short legs. — Jeanne Birdsall

Jane circled the mansion, passing door after door, all too la-di-da for comfort. — Jeanne Birdsall

[The kitchen] was also messy
delightfully so, thought Jane
and it didn't look as though lots of cooking went on there. There was a laptop computer on the counter with duck stickers on it, the spice cabinet was full of Ben's toy trucks, and Jane couldn't spot a cookbook anywhere. This is the kitchen of a Thinker, she decided, and promised herself that she'd never bother with cooking, either. — Jeanne Birdsall

I do have an important question, but I can ask it from out here. Are you dry?
Of course I'm dry. Why do you ask that?
So many daughters have come home wet lately. — Jeanne Birdsall

Was she in love? Rosalind had asked herself that many times in the last few weeks. Anna's mother said you're in love when you feel like you've been hit by a truck. Rosalind felt bad enough for a motorcycle, maybe, but not a truck. — Jeanne Birdsall

revealing Jane in all her blood-soaked glory, — Jeanne Birdsall

I did know a girl in middle school who made hand puppets from her boyfriends' socks," said Aunt Claire. "I don't know if she talked to the puppets, but she did make the puppets talk to her. — Jeanne Birdsall

measure, she brushed off Batty, too, and then Hound, and then herself, and only then did she ring the doorbell. When Iantha opened the door, she was holding a red pen and had several more stuck behind her ears and in the pocket of her shirt. "Are we interrupting?" asked Rosalind. She'd taken the little ones away to give Iantha a break, and to make up for all the afternoons Batty spent at her house, causing who knew how much chaos. "Did we come back too soon?" "No, your timing is just right. I keep getting — Jeanne Birdsall

I've been going insane reading my students' papers. Apparently several of them think the Hubble Space Telescope is used to search the universe for hubbles."
~ Ithana Aaronson — Jeanne Birdsall

What rhymes with smile?" "Bile, as in Your smile makes me want to throw up. — Jeanne Birdsall

Not everyone is fodder for books,' said Rosalind. — Jeanne Birdsall

A whole extra bed without a sister to go along with it! — Jeanne Birdsall

And then last autumn his heart had stopped working properly. The veterinarian said that they just had to care for him and love him, and Batty had loved him, and loved him, and loved him, but it hadn't been enough. No one in her family had ever said that Hound's dying was her fault, but she knew the truth. She hadn't been able to keep him with her, to stop him from leaving her behind. — Jeanne Birdsall

Parents almost always want what's best for their children. They just don't always know what that is. — Jeanne Birdsall

The cuter the boy, the mushier your brain. — Jeanne Birdsall

This is what made a book great, she thought, that you could read it over and over and never get tired of it. — Jeanne Birdsall

If there could be anything worse than having a parent die, it would be having a parent who never bothered to meet you. — Jeanne Birdsall

Some secrets buried away in boxes are peacefully forgotten, just as we hope they'll be. But some refuse to stay in their boxes, popping out at the worst possible times. And then there are those ... that linger and fester, gnawing away from the inside out. — Jeanne Birdsall

She didn't like being stuck indoors because of a bully. — Jeanne Birdsall

People sometimes make unexpected choices when they're lonely — Jeanne Birdsall

Endings are sad, aren't they?"
"Yes. — Jeanne Birdsall

It wasn't a rock. It was a dog's rubber bone, left behind months ago to be buried first under autumn leaves, then winter snow. Just an old rubber bone, but Batty was already braced for what she knew would come - the rushing in her ears, the stab in her stomach, and the seeping away of the colors from her world. The soft blue spring sky, the yellow forsythia hedge, even Ben's bright red hair - all dulled, all gray and wretched. — Jeanne Birdsall

It was all a cottage is supposed to be, small and snug, with a front porch, pink climbing roses, and lots of trees for shade. — Jeanne Birdsall

Jane,' she said, climbing down from the chair. 'Remember last year when I built that model wind tower for you and you wrote those poems for me?'
And you said you'd never switch homework assignments with me again.'
For good reason. My teacher had a hard time believing I wrote Tra-la the joy of tulips blooming, Ha-ha the thrill of bumblebees zooming. I'm alive and I dance, I'm alive though death is always looming. When I finally convinced her that I had, she asked me if I needed to talk to the school counselor. — Jeanne Birdsall

Do you think she'll want to later? Rosalind, I mean, not Aunt Claire. I mean, I'm sure Aunt Claire could do football drills if she wanted to, but I'd rather have Ros - I mean ... Tommy had trailed off into an embarrassed silence. Skye — Jeanne Birdsall

Her father had been forced to cancel her clarinet lessons after the neighbors complained about the practicing. — Jeanne Birdsall

Woof," he said sadly. "Poor Hound," said Batty. "Poor Hound, indeed." Mr. Penderwick was not sympathetic. "Even he should know not to eat towels. — Jeanne Birdsall

And depression settled over the kitchen like a wet fog. — Jeanne Birdsall

He was the least scary adult present, besides being English and therefore fascinating. — Jeanne Birdsall

While in her heart Batty knew that Ginevra was a nice person, she sometimes couldn't help wondering if nice people could also be show-offs. — Jeanne Birdsall

Why does everybody think I argue? I never argue." Skye hesitated. "Or at least, I'm not going to argue as much anymore."
"That would be a miracle."
Skye chose to pretend she hadn't heard. — Jeanne Birdsall

The moonlight had turned the gardens into a fairyland, magnificent and mysterious. — Jeanne Birdsall

Skye." "Lima-Oscar-Victor-Echo — Jeanne Birdsall

Tommy was nowhere in sight, and though she waited for a few minutes, he didn't reappear. — Jeanne Birdsall