middle-grade

Wait. Is a real, live adult person actually asking me details about the games I play? This is unheard of.

It's true, I'm impressed with myself, almost daily. If I don't impress myself then how am I ever to feel accomplished?" "Who cares if you impress others?" "Indeed. Others' opinions hardly matter, but one's own sense of accomplishment is paramount, is it not?

Only worse thing than being cold, and too tired to defend yourself, is to be cold and alone. And I wouldn't ever wish that on nobody.

If you always try to measure yourself withmoney... well, it's like counting backwards, the more youkeep on, the less you'll have to show for it.

You belong with us, the lost of the lost, the tribe without a home, a tribe of orphans living our abandoned lives amid toys and trinkets, stuffed monkeys and bears. You__e one of us now__he Tribe of the Teddy Bear._ From Tribe of the Teddy Bear

Linc was so amazed at what he saw and heard, __his is sooo cool. I love this place. This looks way better than a day spotting weird people at Walmart.

Where are we?" Ni asked."This is my work place and the center ofUniverse as well." Simone said."Do you mean the tower is in the center of Universe?" Ni asked__ mean that we are both in space and inside the tower at the same time.""Why is it so dark here?" Ni asked."At the beginning, it is always dark." Simone replied, "Then everything comes into existence little by little.Even Light is born out of Darkness.

Belief is both a marvelous and a terrible thing. Belief makes things real.

Green light,_ she called, and I watched Becky run ahead until she was just a few inches from Michelle. Kayla was right next to her. Just as she reached out to tag Michelle, Kayla pushed into Becky__ back hard, and Becky flew forward.I gasped. Michelle turned around as Kayla tagged her arm. Becky fell at Michelle__ feet. She wrapped her arms around Michelle__ legs to catch herself. Michelle fell forward onto her knees, and Becky bumped her mouth against Michelle__ shoe.__ime!_ I called, stopping the game.__is, you all right?_ Heather asked Michelle.Michelle didn__ answer. She looked at Becky who was on her knees, staring at the ground. __ou okay?_ I asked Becky.She started to cry. I didn__ know if she really was hurt or just looking for attention. I sighed and looked away, waiting for her to start screaming her head off.Luke ran over to us. He looked at her, pointed, and cried, __eck, you__e bleeding!__ looked up. Blood was trickling out of her mouth. She gasped. I glared at Luke for scaring her. He closed his mouth. Becky opened hers wider.__ayla, why are you such a little brat?_ asked Michelle, slapping off the grass stuck to her knees. __t was an accident!_ Kayla insisted.__eah right!_ Michelle yelled, __ou just wanted to win! It__ just a game!_ Kayla stood there looking guilty. I looked at Becky and noticed that one of her teeth was missing. I looked down, found a piece of white on the ground, and picked it up with my thumb and pointer finger. It was Becky__ tooth.__ecky, look!_ I said, holding it up, __ou lost your first tooth!_- The Castle Park Kids

Kayla jumped down off of the monkey bars. I thought she was going to apologize. Instead, she pointed at Becky and laughed as hard as she could.My blood boiled. I glared at her so hard that I thought that lasers would shoot out of my eyes and burn a hole through her. Without thinking, I stood up, walked over to Kayla, and slapped her across the face as hard as I could. I had never hit anyone who wasn__ my brother and sister, and I had never hit them as hard as I hit her. My hand stung. I grabbed it and held it between my knees. Kayla squealed, grabbed her face, and ran home. Ashley just looked at me. I reached for Becky, helped her to her feet, and we ran to our house.- The Castle Park Kids

The next morning, I woke up to hear Becky moaning and rustling around in her bed covers.____ so itchy!_ she cried.__o scratch!_ I said, groggily, but suddenly, I felt itchy too. So, I started scratching my legs. They felt better until I stopped scratching. Then, it started to burn. I threw back the covers and saw that my legs were covered in red bumps.__y legs!_ I yelled.Becky looked over at me. Then, she pulled back her covers. Her legs were even worse. She gasped.__om!_ I cried.Mom came in. She was ready for work, wearing her dress shirt and gym shorts. She only had to dress up the top half of her body in case she had to use her webcam to talk to her boss.__hat is it?_ she asked.__ook!_ I said, showing her our legs.__h no! That__ poison ivy!_ she cried, __here were you guys playing yesterday?_ __he woods,_ I said.__ou must have been sitting in it,_ she said.- The Castle Park Kids

To travel beyond our world is to change this present one forever.

Attending to your own words and ideas as well as those of others is an admirable trait in any person, but a necessity in a leader.

When he wasn__ busy chasing unseen mice around the academy, Ion spent hours in the Borean Study, searching through dusty books for anything that had to do with the banshee or the Shroud. But finding this anything proved to be difficult as well, especially when the books you__e reading have everything to do with something, but certainly nothing to do with your anything. And in trying to find this anything, Ion forgot about a very important, specific thing, which would quickly ruin his Wednesday.

Look how we have made our broken hearts soar.

The address given to me by Greta was written in such a way that the words looked like numbers, and the numbers looked like the aftermath of a startled octopus meeting a deep-sea diver in a corner café. It was the worst writing I had ever seen.

Gee, I wonder who you could be referring to?" Owen said. "I mean you," Erebus said. "I just did not wish to be rude." "All you've been is rude." Owen muttered just under a whisper. "Some minds are more capable than others." Erebus smiled at Hugh.

I was thinking that preparing to meet someone you don__ think you__l like is a lot like pulling a tooth you do like, in that you__l be very sweaty and know very well (at least at that moment in time) that life would be far grander if you went in another direction.