Jay Asher

“Bullying has been around forever, and so it became one of these issues that as an adult we look back on and say, 'Yeah, it's just one of those unfortunate parts of growing up.' You know you're not going to stop it, so it just became easier to call it one of those things that 'just happens.'”

“But I do know which is the least popular. The truth.”

“Put meunderneath God's sky and know medon't just look at me with your eyesTake awaythis mask of flesh and bone andsee me for my soulalone”

“If we know it's happening, and we're not having the discussion, we're contributing to the problem of making it seem like people can't open up.”

“I miss video games where the jump-kick was the trickiest combo to master.”

“Then come to realize that you're making mountains out of molehills. Realize how petty you've become. Sure, it may feel like you can't get a grip on this town. It may seem that every time someone offers you a hand up, they just let go and you slip further down. But you must stop being so pessimistic, Hannah, and learn to trust those around you. So I do. One more time.”

“When you're being bullied, it can feel like no one cares, and I'm so excited to tell the teens at the schools I visit that I wouldn't be there if their school didn't care.”

“Suicide. It's something I've been thinking about. Not too seriously, but I have been thinking about it.” That's the note. Word for word. And I know it's word for word because I wrote it dozens of times before delivering it. I'd write it, throw it away, write it, crumple it up, throw it away.But why was I writing it to begin with? I asked myself that question every time I printed the words onto a new sheet of paper. Why was I writing this note? It was a lie. I hadn't been thinking about it. Not really. Not in detail. The thought would come into my head and I'd push it away.But I pushed it away a lot.”

“I don't know anything about bullying in Huntington Beach specifically, but I would assume it's very similar to other places.”

“I really love visiting schools - in fact, that's my favorite part of being an author now - even though I still get stage fright! When I visit schools, I know I'm going to be talking to some kids who don't like to read.”

“Every action we have is going to have repercussions in ways we could not anticipate.”

“After your visits, I twisted my blinds shut every night. I locked out the stars and I never saw lightning again. Each night, I simply turned out the lights and went to bed.”

“My favorite aspect of being an author has always been visiting different communities and meeting my readers face to face.”

“That's what I love about poetry. The more abstract, the better. The stuff where you're not sure what the poet's talking about. You may have an idea, but you can't be sure. Not a hundred percent. Each word, specifically chosen, could have a million different meanings.”

“I didn't feel physically sick. But mentally. My mind was twisting in so many ways. (...) We once saw a documentary on migraines. One of the men interviewed used to fall on his knees and bang his head against the floor, over and over during attacks. This diverted the pain from deep inside his brain, where he couldn't reach it, to a pain outside that he had control over.”

“If my love were an ocean,there would be no more land.If my love were a desert,you would see only sand.If my love were a star-late at night, only light.And if my love could grow wings,I'd be soaring in flight.”

“When I decided I wanted to become an author, I never thought something I wrote would be used as a way to start conversations that are otherwise difficult to begin.”

“I miss the newness of Magic Eye posters, which really are amazing.”

“Sometimes we have thoughts that even we don’t understand. Thoughts that aren’t even true—that aren’t really how we feel—but they’re running through our heads anyway because they’re interesting to think about.If you could hear other people’s thoughts, you’d overhear things that are true as well as things that are completely random. And you wouldn’t know one from the other. It’d drive you insane. What’s true? What’s not? A million ideas, but what do they mean?”

“I thought I was going to be known for my humor. But then I had an idea for a story, which was absolutely not humorous. But, of course, that's the one that sells and becomes big.”