“I knew we weren't rich, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything.” — Wendelin Van Draanen Life Copy Share Image
“If you really want things to change, you have to get involved. Little strokes fell big oaks, you know.” — Wendelin Van Draanen Change Copy Share Image
Sometimes the things we really want are right in front of us. We just don't see them. — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
“Maybe it was how you looked at it. Maybe there were things I saw as ugly that other people thought were beautiful.” — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
I wipe away my tears and nod, because the pain in my leg is nothing compare to the one in my heart. — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
If chaos is a necessary step in the organization of one's universe, then I was well on my way. — Wendelin Van Draanen Chaos Copy Share Image
Get beyond his eyes and his smile and the sheen of his hair - look at what's really there. — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
Maybe my mother's right. Maybe there is more to Bryce Loski than I know. Maybe it's time to meet him in the… — Wendelin Van Draanen Bryce loski Copy Share Image
“I’m not going to be able to sleep a wink tonight. I hate shelters. People coughing and snoring and hacking up who-knows-what.… — Wendelin Van Draanen Shelters Copy Share Image
You told us over and over that you don’t think you could live without books, but the ironic thing is, you’d probably… — Wendelin Van Draanen Book Copy Share Image
“Street people use cardboard all the time, and bum alleys are just shanties or lean-tos, though. They’re nothing like my house! Mine… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
The room fell quiet. And as I read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eight-grade boys, I realized that… — Wendelin Van Draanen Boys Copy Share Image
There are certain things I believe we need to keep in our emotional arsenal as we navigate through life. Hope is a… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
It's funny how you can think you know someone pretty well, and then something happens or they do something that makes you… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
So there I was, with the two hottest girls on campus, having lunch. I was "the man", the envy of every other… — Wendelin Van Draanen Bryce loski Copy Share Image
“It’s amazing how two thin pieces of clothing can hold such deep memories. Laughter, pain, victory, defeat, friendship, fatigue, elation… they’re all… — Wendelin Van Draanen Athlete Copy Share Image
Aw, he's just you know...entrenched," Matt said. "Gotta adjust to the perspective and deal from there." Then he added, "Not that I'd… — Wendelin Van Draanen Bawling Copy Share Image
“Bryce, I asked you to conquer your fear, but all you did was give in to it. If you were in love… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
What sort of person you grow into should not be achieved by default, and often that's exactly what happens to kids. I… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
“And since you know what a tree-climbing weenie I am, I think it's pretty clear that I'm willing to do anything to… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
I operate under the assumption that people don't notice the good in me. That's just how things always seem to play out.… — Wendelin Van Draanen Artist Copy Share Image
My grandfather stood beside me and looked across the street, too. "No, Bryce," he said softly. "She's the same as she's always… — Wendelin Van Draanen Bryce loski Copy Share Image
Writing is work. It takes a lot of contemplation, concentration, and out-and-out sweat. People tend to romanticize it, that somehow your work… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
My heart stopped. It just stopped beating. And for the first time in my life, I had that feeling. You know, like… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
Surely, I thought, a few bushes and some dilapidated wood couldn't stop someone's best and brightest blessing! Surely not! — Wendelin Van Draanen Blessing Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
Sometimes a little discomfort in the beginning can save a whole lot of pain down the road. — Wendelin Van Draanen Discomfort Copy Share Image
I believe in the paramount importance of entertainment, but I have something to say. — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
“I wipe away my tears and nod, because the pain in my leg is nothing compared to the one in my heart.” — Wendelin Van Draanen Pain Copy Share Image
“It's that way with people, too. Only with people it's sometimes that the whole is less than the sum of the parts.” — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
To by held above the earth and be brushed by the wind," she said,"it's like your heart has been kissed by beauty. — Wendelin Van Draanen Beauty Copy Share Image
But in my heart I knew that just like the new grass, I wasn't strong enough yet to be walked on — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
It was beyond embarrassing or humiliating or even mortifying. It was ego-slaying! — Wendelin Van Draanen Ego Copy Share Image
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 Flower Copy Share Image
Sometimes I get so caught up in my own problems that I forget how amazing the world is. — Wendelin Van Draanen Amazing Copy Share Image
“All I know is that compared to her, Shelly and Miranda seemed so… ordinary.” — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss…" He turned to me. "But every once in a… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
“Words can't fix my life. Words can't give me a family. Words can't do jack. You may be a teacher, Ms. Leone,… — Wendelin Van Draanen Family Copy Share Image
It's easy to look back and see it, and it's easy to give the advice. But the sad fact is, most people… — Wendelin Van Draanen Advice Copy Share Image
My mission as a writer is to give my readers hope to carry with them, and to promote a belief that they… — Wendelin Van Draanen Copy Share Image
