“ I turn my back on him as he goes,and settle myself in the parlor,and touch Ma's piano.My fingers leave sighsin the dust. Karen Hesse
“ When I point my fingers at the keys, the music springs straight out of me. Right hand playing notes sharp as tongues, telling stories while the smooth buttery rhythms back me up on the left. Karen Hesse
“ HopeIt started out as snow,oh, big flakesfloating softly, catching on my sweater,lacy on the edges of my sleeves.Snow covered the dust, softened thefences, soothe the parched lipsof the land.And then… Karen Hesse
“ The way I see it, hard times aren't only about money,or drought,or dust.Hard times are about losing spirit,and hope,and what happens when dreams dry up. Karen Hesse
“ When I rode the train west,I went looking for something,but I didn't see anything wonderful.I didn't see anything better than what I already had.Home. Karen Hesse
“ I don't know what I am thinking. But I am alone. I am trapped in the net of the room. In the net of humans. I think maybe I am drowning in the net of humans. Karen Hesse
“ By the summer I turned nine Daddy had given up about having a boy. He tried making me do. Karen Hesse
“ The morning with the whole day waiting,full of promise,the nightof quiet, of no expectations, of rest.And the certainty of home, the one I live in,and the onethat lives in me. Karen Hesse
“ HopeIt started out as snow,oh, big flakesfloating softly, catching on my sweater,lacy on the edges of my sleeves.Snow covered the dust, softened thefences, soothe the parched lipsof the land.And then… Karen Hesse
“ As long as you live, it is never too late to make amends. Take my advice, child. Don't waste your precious life with regrets and sorrow. Find a way to make right what was wrong, and then move on. Karen Hesse
“ The schoolhouse, on this sunlit morning, has begun to take on the scent of girls with wind-blown hair, with seeds in their pockets, with road-hardened feet. Karen Hesse
“ ApplesMa's apple blossomshave turned to hard green balls.To eat them now,so tart,would turn my mouth inside out, would make my stomach groan.But in just a couple months,after the baby is born,those ap… Karen Hesse
“ Mr. Noble and Mr. Romney have a bet going as to who can kill the most rabbits. It all started at the rabbit drive last Monday over to Sturgis Karen Hesse
“ I hear the first drops. Like the tapping of a stranger at the door of a dream, the rain changes everything. Karen Hesse
“ Ivy Huxford kept peeking out and giving reports of who was there, and how she never saw so many seats filled in the Palace, and that she didn’t think they could squeeze a rattlesnake into the back eve… Karen Hesse
“ We might not belong to anyone else in this whole world. But us Faulstiches,we belong to each other. Karen Hesse
“ The way I see it, hard times aren't only about money, or drought, or dust. Hard times are about losing spirit, and hope, and what happens when dreams dry up.And I'm learning, watching Daddy, that you… Karen Hesse
“ Each day after class lets out,each morning before it begins, i sit at the school piano and make my hands work. in spite of the pain, in spite of the stiffness and scars. i make my hands play piano.i h… Karen Hesse
“ Sometimes, a flame can be utterly extinguished. Sometimes, a flame can shrink and waver, but sometimes a flame refuses to go out. It flares up from the faintest ember to illuminate the darkness, to bu… Karen Hesse
