“It was strange. She’d been an ugly for four years, but a few extra days had brought home to her exactly what the world really meant. Tally peered into her mirror all day, noting every flaw, every deformity. Her think lips pursed with unhappiness. Her hair grew even frizzier because she kept running her hands […]

“They stared at me, the Indian boy with the black eye and swollen nose, my going away gift from Rowdy. Those white kids couldn’t believe their eyes. They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO. What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other […]

“Her name was Sally Jackson and she’s the best person in the world, which just proves my theory, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn’t care much about […]