Adults always thought they could fix children’s problems.

minutes. But to find someone who you wanted to talk to for 609 hours—that was rare.

The key to being a good thief, Sam always felt, was utter brazenness.

He feared babies in general—their immaculateness was threatening to him.

Why wouldn’t you tell someone you loved them?

It was as if being a woman was a disease that you didn’t wish to catch. As long as you didn’t associate with the other women, you could imply to the majority, the men: I’m not like those other ones.

In the weeks that followed, fifty thousand people canceled their Mapleworld accounts. An additional two hundred thousand joined.

had learned to tolerate the sometimes-painful present by living in the future.

Marx loved college theater. It wasn’t so much being on stage that he loved, but the productions themselves. He loved the intimacy of being in a tight group of people who had come together, miraculously, for a brief period in time, for the purpose of making art. He mourned every time a production was over, and he rejoiced when he was cast in a new o