Brought to You By the Letters A.J.

The following quotes are from The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin, the book to which I am currently listening.  I'm maybe two-thirds through, but the collection of quotes that tickled me was growing so I decided to share what I already have before finishing it.

"I like Maya, but . . . Conversation with her lacks to say the least.  We talk about Elmo, and I can't stand him, by the way, but other than that, it's mainly about her.  She's totally self-centered."

"Babies do tend to be that way," Lambiase says.  "The conversation will probably improve when she knows more words."

"And she always want to read the same book.  And it's, like the crappiest board book.  The Monster at the End of This Book?"

Lambiase says he hasn't heard of it.

"Well, believe you me.  She's got terrible taste in books."

-----

"Love you," Maya says.

"Yes, she keeps saying that," A.J. says.  "I warned her about giving love that hasn't yet been earned, but honestly, I think it's the influence of that insidious Elmo.  He loves everyone, you know?"

-----

She does not think of her mother almost ever.

She knows that her mother is dead.  And she knows that dead is when you go to sleep and you do not wake up.  She feels very sorry for her mother because people who don't wake up can't go downstairs to the bookstore in the morning.

Maya knows that her mother left her in Island Books.  But maybe that's what happens to all children at a certain age.  Some children are left in shoe stores.  And some children are left in toy stores.  And some children are left in sandwich shops.  And your whole life is determined by what store you get left in.  She does not want to live in the sandwich shop.

It's Amy's favorite.  (She seems so sweet on the surface, no?)  Amy and I do not always have the exact same taste in things, but this I like.

When she told me it was her favorite, it suggested to me strange and wonderful things about her character that I had not guessed, dark places that I might like to visit.

People tell boring lies about politics, God, and love.  You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question, What is your favorite book?

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Maya has chosen to be ring bearer because the job has more responsibility than flower girl.  "If you lose a flower, you get another flower," Maya reasons.  "If you lose the ring, everyone is sad forever.  The ring bearer has much more power."

"You sound like Gollum," A.J. says.

"Who's Gollum?" Maya wants to know.

"Someone very nerdy that your father likes," Amelia says.

-----

It is the secret fear that we are unlovable that isolates us, but it is only because we are isolated that we think we are unlovable.  Someday, you do not know when, you will be driving down a road.  And someday, you do not know when, he, or indeed she, will be there.  You will be loved because for the first time in your life, you will truly not be alone.  You will have chosen not to be alone.