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