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Sometimes the things we really want are right in front of us. We just don't see them.

Wendelin Van Draanen

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Wendelin Van Draanen
Age: 59
Born: 1965
Born: January 6
Author
Novelist
Writer
Chicago
Illinois
Things
Fronts
Front
Right
Sometimes
Really

More quotes by Wendelin Van Draanen

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It was beyond embarrassing or humiliating or even mortifying. It was ego-slaying!
Wendelin Van Draanen
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There's no winning arguments with your parents
Wendelin Van Draanen
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I am a runner. That's what I do. That's who I am. Running is all I know, or want, or care about.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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There's nothing like a headstrong woman to make you happy to be alive.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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It's disturbing how fast weeds take root in my garden of worthiness. They're so hard to pull. And grow back so easily.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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As much as thinking this upsets me, I'm starting to see that I need the merry-go-round much more than it needs me, and in the end my choice is to hop back on or get left in the dust.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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There’s no winning arguments with your parents, so why get all pumped up over them? It is way better to dive down and get out of the way than it is to get clobbered by some parental tidal wave.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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Holly, I understand that you are upset because Gemma pulled down your ants, but why did you think pouring motor oil inside her backpack is the way to solve the problem?
Wendelin Van Draanen
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I fell asleep that night thinking about the kiss that might have been. What did a kiss feel like, anyway? Somehow I knew it wouldn’t be like the one I got from Mom or Dad at bedtime. The same species, maybe, but a radically different beast, to be sure. Like a wolf and a whippet – only science would put them on the same tree.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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The room fell quiet. And as I read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eight-grade boys, I realized that to me, there had only ever been one boy.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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A million dollars sounds like a lot, I know. Especially when you're young. But you can't let money erode your principles or you'll wind up with nothing.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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You want me to be a man,older than you, who goes by the name of Roullard.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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I operate under the assumption that people don't notice the good in me. That's just how things always seem to play out. I get blamed, while con-artist kids like Venus, and Camille, and Gemma get believed. But the rescue lady noticed. In the background, just observing, she noticed.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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I'll ride my bike all the stinkin' way to school for the rest of eternity if it means being with her. -Bryce
Wendelin Van Draanen
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I’ve flown kites before and I know – sometimes they’re gone forever, and sometimes they’re just waiting in the middle of the road for you to rescue them. Kites can be lucky or they can be ornery. I’ve had both kinds, and a lucky kite is definitely worth chasing for.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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A painting is more than the sum of its parts
Wendelin Van Draanen
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I realize something. That wasn't a finish line for me...This is my new starting line.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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I miss school. What’s wrong with me?
Wendelin Van Draanen
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But in my heart I knew the old Bryce was toast. There was no going back. Not to Garrett or Shelly or Miranda or any of the other people who wouldn't understand. Juli was different, but after all these years that didn't bother me anymore. I liked it. I liked her.
Wendelin Van Draanen
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All of a sudden I didn't fit in anywhere. Not at school, not at home...and every time I turned around, another person I'd known forever felt like a stranger to me. Even I felt like a stranger to me.
Wendelin Van Draanen