“ I read because one life isn't enough, and in the page of a book I can be anybody;I read because the words that build the story become mine, to build my life;I read not for happy endings but for new be… Richard Peck
“ A solider must leave someone behind,' she said. 'What men do best is walk away from women. Wars are handy for that. Richard Peck
“ At school we practiced for the Christmas program all month long. Miss Butler couldn't sing either, but she was a feisty director. . . . She took the Christmas program personally, as teachers do. Richard Peck
“ And don’t look for anything out of the law around here, she said. The Cowgills and the Leapers is kin to the sheriff. No justice in these parts. It’s every man for hisself.But as the saying goes, if y… Richard Peck
“ We had to scramble for seats in the day coach, lugging one straw valise between us and a gallon jug of lemonade. And a thermos bottle of the kind the Spanish-American War soldiers carried, with our ow… Richard Peck
“ I seen but little of this world,Except my corner of it;The city never drew me,For I knew I could not love it.What I loved best was watchingThe garden getting ripeAnd a pouch of sweet tobaccoAnd my old… Richard Peck
“ Blue lightning flashed in the kitchen, and for a split second you could see every calendar on the wall in there. Than an almighty explosion like the crack of doom. She'd rolled a cherry bomb across th… Richard Peck
“ At last she said, Them Burdicks isn't worth the powder and shot to blow them up. They're like a pack of hound dogs. They'll chase livestock, suck eggs, and lick the skillet. And steal? They'd steal a… Richard Peck
“ September 11We thought we'd outdistanced historyTold our children it was nowhere near;Even when history struck Columbine,It didn't happen here.We took down the maps in the classroom,And when they were… Richard Peck
“ They'd just tell you to turn the other cheek, wouldn't they?...Trouble is, Mrs. Dowdel observed, after you've turned the other cheek four times, you run out of cheeks. Richard Peck
“ Why she hankered to be a teacher, I couldn't tell you. But she had chalk dust in her veins, and she deserved to get that certificate. It was only fair. Richard Peck
