Miscellaneous Sentences

Everyone who was present that day could sense that words had a mysterious magical power, that they could reach the heart and make the oldest things new again, over and over, if only one used them with feeling and passion. --The Legend of the Wandering King by Laura Gallego Garcia

I have a crew cut, yes a crew cut, sallow skin, and the kind of mouth that puckers when I breathe. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

I want to say it with a snarl, but when your cheeks are puffy you don't snarl, you huff. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

The moment already makes the Awkward Hall of Fame, but as per my life, it has to get worse. -- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

I am the Rocky Balboa of obese drummers.-- Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going

She wasn't afraid to live life; I wasn't afraid to take notes. -- The Isabel Factor by Gayle Friesen

She was pretty, popular, poised, polite, occasionally persnickety but never around parents. (And political.) Sorry. Runaway alliteration again. -- The Isabel Factor by Gayle Friesen

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Stepan Arkadyich subscribed to and read a liberal newspaper, not an extreme one, but one with the tendency to which the majority held. And though neither science, nor art, nor politics itself interested him, he firmly held the same views on all these subjects as the majority and his newspaper did, and changed them only when the majority did, or, rather, he did not change them, but they themselves changed imperceptibly in him.

To each of them it seemed that the life he led was the only real life, and the one his friend led was a mere illusion.Levin suddenly blushed, but not as grown-up people blush - slightly, unaware of it themselves - but as boys do, feeling that their bashfulness makes them ridiculous, becoming ashamed as a result, and blushing even more, almost to the point of tears.

'So you see,' said Stepan Arkadyich, 'you're a very wholesome man. That is your virtue and your defect. You have a wholesome character, and you want all of life to be made up of wholesome phenomena, but that doesn't happen...'

It was as if a surplus of something so overflowed her being that it expressed itself beyond her will, now in the brightness of her glance, now in her smile.

Sentences with capital letters stalked by my students

Antoine Aragon put on his Nike shoes. - written by Luis

From his childhood in the segregated South to his current fight with Parkinson's disease, Ali never backed down. --The Greatest by Walter Dean Myers - submitted by Dylan

Miss Binney stood in front of her class and began to read aloud from Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, a book that was a favorite of Ramona's because, unlike so many books for her age,itwasneither quiet and sleepy nor sweet and pretty. --Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary - submitted by Andrea

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, lay atop of his pillow, open to a page on protective devices. --The Spiderwick Chronicles - Book 3 - Lucinda's Secret by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black - submitted by Alejandra.

One of those gathered, a fifth grade student at Dry Creek Middle School, tape recorded the spirited exchange between Mander and the angry mob. --Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise - submitted by Sooji

Cleaning the attic, Grandma, was a snap, and there was no trick to asking Mrs. Edwards if she wanted me to run any errands for her. --Kid Power by Susan Beth Pfeffer - submitted by Mabel

"Be quiet," Alexandra hissed as Buddy and she crawled into the gap between Target and Walmart, where they saw Chantel, Eric, and Wendy already waiting for them. --written by Claire

Alfonso's brother worked in the United States, so Alfonso always talked about going there someday, but he stayed in Mexico because of his attachment toPapa and El Rancho de las Rosas. --Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan -submitted by Antoine.

And we passed dozens of little triangular signs showing the purple, blobby face of King Jellyjam, smiling out from under his shiny, gold crown. --The Horror at Camp Jellyjam by R.L. Stine - submitted by Salvador

The man from Royal and General was wearing a polyester suit with a Marks and Spencer tie, he looked about thirty. --Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz - submitted by Daniella

Dad riffing on the sax, dancing around like a rockstar, Emily tootling along on the flute. --The Avalon by Rachel Roberts - submitted by Laura

I thought about the wall extending all the way to Lathbury and to Turlock, which were butted up and walled in against The Lonely Sea, where fierce, mist-covered waves break against the soaring cliffs. -- The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman - submitted by Catalina

But if I am not a Christian, why was I wearing a cross?-- When the Soldiers Were Gone by Vera W. Propp - submitted by Asne

More Carl Hiaasen - Flush

The deputy told me to empty my pockets: two quarters, a penny, a stick of bubble gum, and a roll of grip tape for my skateboard. (p. 1)

I was actually born in a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice on U.S. Highway One, my dad racing up the eighteen-mile stretch from Key Largo to the mainland. (p. 5)

Over the years Abbey and I developed a pretty good system: She keeps an eye on Mon, and I keep an eye on Dad. (p. 5)

I remember Mom's eyes narrowing when Dad told us the story-- it was the same look I get whenever I tell her I'm done with my homework and she knows better. (p. 15)

Summer mornings are mostly sunny and still, though by midafternoon huge boiling thunderheads start to build over the Everglades, and the weather can get interesting in a hurry. (p. 27)

I remember thinking of something clever to say, but all I could do was squeak like a leaking balloon. (p. 107)

It was one of those bright hazy days with no horizon, when the sea and the sky melt together in a pale blue infinity (p. 136)

She laughed -- one of those tired, what-was-I-thinking laughs. (p. 147)

Sentences from my recent reading

Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: a room and a letter. -- The Birthday Room by Kevin Henkes

The cats wove in and out of Lynnie's leg's, purring. If the cats had been trailing rope, Lynnie's ankles would have been bound together in a tangle. -- The Birthday Room by Kevin Henkes

I remember when we first came to Blowfly, Nevada, my dad squinted one eye at the flat countryside and said, "Jake, I believe if you climbed a tree, you could see clear to Mexico. If you could find a tree." -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman

I took a look through the blowing curtain and saw a lot of city clothes. The woman had a thunderhead of copper-colored hair, and she wore gloves to her elbows as if she'd dipped her arms in whitewash. She began to dab at her eyes with a handkerchief as thin and lacy as a handful of air. -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman

The rain came tumbling in, catching some men in the street, and pouring like molten silver off their hats. -- Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman

When they stopped again to look, they were staring down deep canyon walls where water flowed like a flume, shot up in towers, roared betweeen basalt boulders. -- Biting the Moon by Martha Grimes

I know I'm setting up a problem for later because Dad's always late, but I have rules, too, and one of mine is: Sometimes you've gotta work with what you've got. -- Rules by Cynthia Lord

It follows the ocean's shoreline, and I look for snowy egrets standing stick-still in the salt marshes and osprey circling, hunting fish. --Rules by Cynthia Lord

Jumping in front of the frozen TV picture, he waves the remote in circles, like it's a magic wand. Rules by Cynthia Lord

Fierce, hard -- my sneakers slap the tar --swift, brisk. I take off across the lawn (squishy, springy). but as I round the far corner of the house, my feet slow to a walk. Rules by Cynthia Lord

Someone should tell you not to answer the phone in the principal's office, if that's a rule. Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

"All right, now, Clementine," Principal Rice said in her I'm-trying-to-be-patient-but-it's-getting-harder voice. "Why did you cut off Margaret's hair?" -- Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker

I am lucky that way: great ideas are always popping into my head withoutme having to think them up. Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker

Then he said, "Now Susan, let's just look at this calmly," and then he didn't say anything for another long time. And then he said "I'm sorry" seven times, which is two more times than he said it after he told my mother he thought her overalls were getting a little snug. --Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker

"Did you know the great horned owl is called the tiger of the night?" -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting

Pale moths swoop like ghosts against our window screen. -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting

The grass is crunchy under my bare feet. -- On Call Back Mountain by Eve Bunting

Mom looked at me, furious. I thought she would slap me for the first time in my life. She didn't. She stomped away. I stood there, wishing she had slapped me. You're supposed to put an exclamation point at the end of strong feelings. A slap would have felt like that. But instead, her heels clicked out her punctuation, dot dot dot . . . .
I couldn't see where my sentence would end. -- Sahara Special by Esme Raji Codell

I received your letter last week and, my goodness, you sound just like the author of the little book of directions that came with my blender. -- Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise

Honorable Judge Anne Chovey finds both Mander and Eel GUILTY on charges of fraud, misrepresentation, greed, and in general, weasel-like conduct and slimy business practices. -- Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise

Sentences stalked by my students

It is no wonder that in Spanish, Esperanza means "Hope." --Esperanza Rising -- by Luis

Tio Luis's face hardened like a rock and the muscles twitched in his narrow neck. -- Esperanza Rising--Carlos Javier

By the time I looked back at the guys, he had been swallowed the crowd. --DJ Machale-- Antoine

Many of the roses had dropped their petals, leaving the stem and the rose hip, the green, grapelike friuit of the rose. --Esperanza Rising-Dylan

The rich person is richer when he becomes poor, than the poor person when he becomes rich. --Esperanza Rising--Andrea

Fiona has the same facial beauty as an iceberg, but unlike the iceberg she has absolutely nothing below the surface. --Matilda--Claire

"And the pinata? It's not anyone's birthday." --Esperanza Rising- Luis

The rooms seem to big without Papa's voice to fill them, and the echoes of their footsteps deepend their sadness. --Esperanza Rising-- Catalina

Her bones were as creeky as floor boards at midnight.--Night Noses--Mabel

She looked around at Papa's desk and book's, Mama's basket of crochetingwith the silver hooks Papa had bought her in Guadalajara, the table near the door that held Papa's rose clippers, and beyond the double doors, the garden.--Esperanza Rising-- Daniella

We only wanted to get away, only escape and arrive safely. --Anne Frank Beyond the Diary-- Laura

She fell to her knees and sank into a dark hole of despair and disbelief. --Esperanza Rising-- Daniel

Everytime she looked at the packages, they reminded her of the happy fiesta she was supposed to have. -- Esperanza Rising-- Alexandra

They were covered top to bottom, in long sleeved shirts, baggy pants tied at the ankles with string, and bandanas wrapped around their foreheads and necks to protect them from the sun, dust, and spiders. --Esperanza Rising-- Sooji

Leaning on the bathroom sink, I took several deep breaths. -- Monster Blood for Breakfast-- Ricky Ramirez

"The Names of the Mountains" by Reeve Lindbergh

The loss of a kind German shepherd is an old muffled hurt by now, gentled by more vivid losses that have accumulated over the past thirty years of the family's life like so many succeeding snowfalls, altering the landscape until one forgets the look of underlying ground. p. 24

"He's like a . . . a soft burr - you can't shake him loose!" he would shout angrily, and then laugh at Alicia's moderating response. p. 39

Writers are magpies, collecting little beads of bright things from everyday experience to feather their literary nests. p. 55

I dive into the exit like a rabbit into its own familiar burrow, away from the fearful whine and rumble of the other highway, where accumulated trucks and traffic are roaring on without me toward New York. p. 71

His face looks gaunt and newly lined. p. 73

It has such peace, my mother's own essence: stillness, containment, a wordless sufficiency. p. 76

She's so unusually, painfully sensitive. p. 96

And family background, on either side, is just one among so many things that can slowly freeze and weigh down a marriage over the years, like ice on its wings. p. 101

They both prefer small dinner parties to large social affairs, almost any kind of concert to an athletic event, and one intimate contact with one relative, whether little loved or long lost, then the organized chaos of a family reunion. p. 153

Finally, about ten minutes after the hour, the train comes in, just the way I remember it, with all the familiar self-important clankings and snortings, the heavily burdened, metallic groans I used to know. p. 164

Quotes from Lois Lowry books

"I have a plan," Mr. Willoughby said, putting his paper down. He stroked one eyebrow in a satisfied way. "It’s thoroughly despicable." -- THE WILLOUGHBYS

And then there was the matter of an impending baby brother. -- Anastasia Krupnik

"As soon as I finish this chocolate pudding, I'm going to jump out the window." -- Anastasia, Anastasia Again

In the delivery room, Sam's first words, "Don't drop me," are heard only as, "Waaaaahhhh!" -- All About Sam

"It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened." -- The Giver

Kira felt the aloneness, the uncertainty, and a great sadness. -- Gathering Blue

Helena had not come to the Field the day before. -- Gathering Blue

Sentences from "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

But on this day, a Monday (Roy would never forget), Dana Matherson grabbed Roy's head from behind and pressed his thumbs into Roy's temple, as if he were squeezing a soccer ball.

He word a faded Miami Heat basketball jersey and dirty khaki shorts, and here was the odd part: no shoes.

The soles of his feet looked as black as barbecue coals.

Trace Middle School didn't have the world's strictest dress code, but Roy was pretty sure that some sort of footwear was required.