Alphareader - Danielle Binks

He smelled like soap and sleep and bare skin. He smelled familiar. Not the déjà vu familiar of Guy or Mel. Familiar like the ache in your chest of homesickness, of longing for harbor after weeks of rough seas or craving a fire's warmth after snow or wanting back something you should never have given away.

'The Dark Tide' by Josh Lanyon

Rev Dr Jill Richardson: I got to tell a kid in church that no, intrusive thoughts are brain chemistry, not sin, and I almost cried. Y’all, there is so much pain out there. Let’s not make it worse.

Daphne ColemanPerine; I once heard a preacher say, you can’t control what bird flies over your head but you don’t let it have to build a nest in your hair. That was honestly a breakthrough for me.

That's just the kind of person I am. I'm the scratchy stuff on the side of the matchbox. But that's fine with me. I don't mind at all. Better to be the first-class matchbox than a second-class match.

'Norweigan Wood' by Haruki Murakami 

Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.

'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' by Neil Gaiman

The last thing he ever said to me was, "Just always be waiting for me, and then some night you will hear me crowing."

'Peter Pan' by J.M. Barrie