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ec10145
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Some other facts I picked up: Welsh is an actual, currently used language and our next-door neighbours Angela and Gaenor spoke it. It sounds like Wizard. Baked beans are very popular in England. For breakfast. On toast. On baked potatoes. They can't get enough. "American History" is not a subject everywhere. England and Britain and the United Kingdom are not the same thing. England is the country. Britain is the island containing England, S..
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Maureen Johnson |
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db3d206
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There is nothing so serious as a game.
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Maureen Johnson |
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f5e7cd4
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Stuart, who had just witnessed me go through an entire rainbow of emotions and experiences. There was parents-have-just-been-jailed me, stuck-in-a-strange-town me, insane-and-can't-shut-up me, kind-of-snarky-to-the-strange-guy-trying-to-be-helpful me, breakup me, and the extremely popular jump-on-top-of-you-unexpectedly me.
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Maureen Johnson |
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26ef28a
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Money is for doing things, my love. Don't sit on it like a hen sits on an egg. It doesn't hatch. I should know. I've made enough of it.
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Maureen Johnson |
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24b829d
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I envisioned huge piles of the Elf Hotel flying off the belt, taking down everybody in sight. I had seen pictures of that Elf Hotel - it had sharp candy-cane spires that could easily impale someone. If anyone was ever going to be killed by an Elf Hotel, it would be my parents.
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Maureen Johnson |
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709969c
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I like to talk. Talking is kind of my thing. If talking had been a sport option at Wexford, I would have been captain. But sports always have to involve running, jumping, or swinging your arms around. You don't get PE points for the smooth and rapid movement of the jaw.
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Maureen Johnson |
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55a992e
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One question," I said. "Did you tell me all that because you think I'm going to die?" "No," he said. "It's because you're doing something brave, and I felt I should too." "I'll take that as a yes," I said." --
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Maureen Johnson |
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c394e67
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He had let Aunt Peg live in his house and married her, so clearly he had a thing for flaky American types who liked to sneak off in the dead of night. That was, as Ginny remembered it, how America won the Revolution in the first place. The English walked around in bright red coats in straight lines and took breaks for tea, and the Americans snuck around dressed in rags and hid in trees and stole their horses. Or something. Whatever. She had..
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Maureen Johnson |
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d96af10
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I ran like a thing that runs.
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Maureen Johnson |
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b494765
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Hey! Jack the Wanker! Over here! I want your autograph!
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Maureen Johnson |
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bfcbf8b
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Also, when on a campaign to convince a stranger that you aren't a few fries short of a Happy Meal, throwing around phrases like "tangentially Swedish" is not the best way to go."
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Maureen Johnson |
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a52af53
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It was a bit on the frantic side, maybe because neither one of us had done the metal preparation, so we were both thinking,
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Maureen Johnson |
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e5791e6
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i get a little romantic about the old Empire State. Just looking at it makes me want to play some Frank Sinatra tunes and sway a little. I have a crush on a building. I'd been in there several times but never to work. I always knew there were offices in there but the face never penetrated, really. You don't work in the Empire State Building. You propose in the Empire State Building. You sneak a flask up there and raise a toast to the whole ..
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Maureen Johnson |
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6091b04
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Sometimes, life leaves you without directions, without guideposts or signs. When this happens, you just have to pick a direction and run like hell.
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Maureen Johnson |
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0042b71
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She introduced herself to my parents with one of her mighty, bunny-crushing handshakes. (I'd never seen Claudia crush a bunny, to be fair, but that's the approximate level of pressure.)
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humour
humor
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Maureen Johnson |
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1f55506
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She couldn't take her eyes off the boxers. Mostly, she had a view of the back, but he turned halfway when he looked over. She commanded herself not to look at the front flap, which, of course, was exactly what she honed in on. He spit and put his mouth under the tap to get some water. All while just wearing underwear. All while she just stared at the crucial spot of the Action Pants.
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Maureen Johnson |
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35ea19b
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Fear can't hurt you. When it washes over you, give it no power. it's a snake with no venom.
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Maureen Johnson |
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3ffbe43
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Ah," he said. "I had an . . . artistic disagreement with the director of the panto. As it happens, I take issue with the objectification of women in Cinderella, and the reliance on shoes as a means of identification. Surely you understand."
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Maureen Johnson |
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7631980
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I could envision it all to clearly: Stuart or Debbie finding the dented door off its hinges, lying in the snow. "She came in, ravaged the boy, stole plastic bags, and ripped off the door in her escape," the police would say in the APB. "Probably making her way to bust her parents out of jail."
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Maureen Johnson |
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d1fc21f
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She had always thought applying to college would be exciting. Living away from home, meeting so many new people, Learning new things, making a few poor life desicisons....
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school
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Maureen Johnson |
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5b5300b
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Top Trumps appeared to be a game in which you got cards, and the cards had a picture (in this case, of a horse), and told you all kinds of stats for that horse, how fast it was, how big it was, etc. Whoever had the better horse won both the cards. You repeated this until someone had all the cards. So, basically it was exactly like high school, except it only took three minutes. Which was really a bit more humane, if you thought about it.
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Maureen Johnson |
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c21c87f
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This is England," he explained. "Tell someone it's a procedure, and they'll believe you. The pointless procedure is one of our great natural resources."
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procedures
law
london
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Maureen Johnson |
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4923af9
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Lecturing Brooks was as useful as lecturing a cat.
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Maureen Johnson |
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7afa8f6
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Her kung fu is that powerful.
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Maureen Johnson |
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33deacb
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The locker at the end of her bed had no lock, and one of the hinges was busted. She opened it up. There was a thing in it. The thing might have been a sandwich at some point, or an animal, or a human hand...but what it was now was fuzzy and putrid. A minute later, Ginny was down the stairs, out the door, and gone.
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Maureen Johnson |
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da10797
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I realize Jubilee is a bit of a stripper name. You probably think I have heard the call of the pole.
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Maureen Johnson |
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5619f65
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It was as if the news itself wanted to reassure me. Even Jack the Ripper himself had reappeared as part of the greeting committee.
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young-adult
the-name-of-the-star
maureen-johnson
ya
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Maureen Johnson |
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4ece66f
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Rory: "People are being serious." Jazza: "There's a serial killer out there. Of course people are being serious." Rory: "Yeah, but what are the chances?" Jazza: "I bet all of the victims thought that." Rory: "But still, what are the chances?" Jazza: "Well, I imagine they are several million to one." Jerome: "Not that high. You're only dealing with a small part of London. And while there might be a million or more people in that area, the Ri..
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jazza
jerome
rory
serial-killer
odds
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Maureen Johnson |
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b509e94
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Sometimes it is worth any amount of suffering just to prevent giving your parents the opportunity to be right.
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Maureen Johnson |
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14188da
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You should really, like, dump her and date me instead,' May heard herself saying, all confidence. 'I'm not as irritating. I mean, I'm irritating, but I'm not as bad as she is. And you know me better. Wouldn't that be funny? I mean, we've already hooked up, so we're good.' We broke up,' Pete said quickly. His voice was so bright that May could hear the smile coming through. For a moment she was confused. Who, you and me?' No. Nell and i.' Oh..
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Maureen Johnson |
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199a6ab
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She firmly held the theory that everyone gets at least one very stupid superpower.
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Maureen Johnson |
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91fce14
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Something about her suggested that her leisure activities included wrestling large woodland animals and banging bricks together.
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Maureen Johnson |
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420bfec
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I don't know if there is actually more rain here in England, or if it was just that the rain seemed to be so deliberately annoying. Every drop hit the window with a peevish "Am I bothering you? Does this make you cold and wet? Oh, sorry."
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rain
perfect-descriptions-of-places
london-weather
weather
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Maureen Johnson |
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7fe2861
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You want to play?" Ellis yelled. "All right, then! I played as a kid, bitches!" "There!" Oliver yelled. "That way! Toward Boulevard Peripherique. There! There!" The car swerved abruptly to the right. Ginny heard Keith swear for a solid ten seconds."
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Maureen Johnson |
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1359231
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They weren't pressed together as closely as normal, but his shoulder bumped hers, then remained there. It was very subtle, and possibly even accidental, but it was enough.
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Maureen Johnson |
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5d9dbc0
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This kind of thing always amazed Ginny--people who just walked away from institutions. People who left school when they didn't see the point. Aunt Peg had done that. Ginny knew she never would. That either made her someone who worked hard and finished things, or someone who didn't have the guts to break away from the pack. Maybe both.
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Maureen Johnson |
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cd5dc85
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Want to make it a date, haircut?' she asked. 'As soon as I can scrape together the cash for the train ticket?' What's with the "haircut," ?' he asked. 'I thought we were past that.' We'll be past that,' she said."
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Maureen Johnson |
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6f6b3a3
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I try to shake it loose-but these ideas, they cling. It's like I'm shackled to them with an iron chain. They rattle along behind me, dragging against the ground, always reminding me of their presence.
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lingering
pensive
stuck
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Maureen Johnson |
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748cbec
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Look! A riddle! Time for fun! Should we use a rope or gun? Knives are sharp and gleam so pretty Poison's slow, which is a pity Fire is festive, drowning's slow Hanging's a ropy way to go A broken head, a nasty fall A car colliding with a wall Bombs make a very jolly noise Such ways to punish naughty boys! What shall we use? We can't decide. Just like you cannot run or hide. Ha ha. Truly, Devious
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poem
murder-mystery
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Maureen Johnson |
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f4ac34f
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Of course, he showed me this one afternoon when he was skipping class. When trolls cut classes, you think they are losers. When the beautiful and/or reasonably erudite do the same thing to sit on the library steps and read poetry, you think they are on to something deep. You see only deep brown wavy hair and strong legs, well honed by years of Ultimate Frisbee. You see that book of T. S. Eliot poems held by the hand with the long, graceful ..
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skipping-class
double-standards
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Maureen Johnson |
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0fb409c
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And I think something is beautiful if it reveals something important about what it means to be alive.
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Maureen Johnson |
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6aa5ba3
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She's gone. Been gone for ages. They split up right after you left. That's why the grass out front started growing again." "He's got a new girlfriend?" she said quietly. "Thank god. You must be happy." "Yeah. He does. It's a relief. She's a lot nicer. But then, your average angry snake is nicer than Fiona. I'm sure she's happier wherever she is now, burning orphans or whatever she does with her time."
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Maureen Johnson |
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d0d6bda
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Sometimes I feel like I've been waiting for someone to tell me when I can be normal again,' she said. 'I keep thinking I'll get a letter. Or a call. When does it happen?' Pete looked like he wanted to walk toward her, but then he fell back against the car. The staring contest between them for almost a minute, and finally Pete exhaled loudly. It's okay,' he said.
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Maureen Johnson |
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1faf3af
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You're...a demon hunter?' 'It's not as exciting as it sounds,' he said. 'There is a surprising amount of paperwork involved.
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ya-fantasy
young-adult-dark-comedy
young-adult-fantasy
young-adult-paranormal
ya-paranormal
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Maureen Johnson |