Daniel José Older

“This Book is Dedicated to Black Girls Everywhere. You are Powerful. You are Beautiful. You are Loved.”

— Daniel José Older

“But once when she was chatting with some stupid boy online, she described herself as the color of coffee with not enough…

— Daniel José Older

“Tee shook her head. “You know how like … but then sometimes … and you’re just … ya know? Without any kinda…

— Daniel José Older

“Tee shook her head. “You know how like … but then sometimes … and you’re just … ya know? Without any kinda … whatsoever.”

— Daniel José Older

“Spirits flitted through the red-and-orange sky like leaves blown on the October wind. They dipped and darted over the brownstones and housing…

— Daniel José Older

“And then, like a dick, he's gone.”

— Daniel José Older

“...and night would be falling over the ocean and all the lights would find her in the midst of the darkening world…

— Daniel José Older

“So, sure – maybe I don’t know how I’m going to change the world yet… but whatever it is, it begins with…

— Daniel José Older

“The same word anyone said when they didn’t understand something. Crazy was a way to shut people up, disregard them entirely.”

— Daniel José Older

“My mama told me not to take freaky magic cards from strange white girls I meet in the woods.”

— Daniel José Older

“Alright, beats,” Tee said. “Mina — you want crime?” “Actually …” She squirmed in her chair and tugged at the scarf she…

— Daniel José Older

“But it was hard work making suggestions and not blatant declarations with her ever-changing Puerto Rican body.”

— Daniel José Older

“If we didn’t we’d be summarily executed, remember? Or long-distance choke-smashed by your beloved archwizard woo-woo-in-chief.”

— Daniel José Older

“If you take any longer,” Rutilio chortled, “Sierra here will be in the nursing home by the time you’re done. Anyway, your…

— Daniel José Older

“Ghosts can be really out of line sometimes. It's one thing to come back for true love and cause a little hubbub.…

— Daniel José Older

“Maybe the word hasn’t been invented yet – that thing beyond diversity. We often define movements by what they’re against, but the…

— Daniel José Older

“Apparently all Puerto Rican moms were the same, even if they weren’t your mom.”

— Daniel José Older

“Where’s Bennie?” Nydia said. Bennie was Sierra’s best friend, and it wasn’t like her to miss a practice. “She at some Super…

— Daniel José Older

“Papa Acevedo always used to say people don’t see what they’re not looking for.”

— Daniel José Older

“Her voice carried the voices of a hundred thousand souls in it; a whole history of resistance and rage moved with her.”

— Daniel José Older