If I'm afraid of someone on ...

If I'm afraid of someone on the street, I'll turn to him (it's always a boy) and say, "Excuse me, do you happen to know what time it is?" This is my way of saying to the person, "I see you as a friend, and there is no need to hurt me or take my stuff. Also, I don't even have a watch and I am probably not worth mugging." So far, it's worked like gangbusters... And I've discovered that most people I'm afraid of are actually very friendly.
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 Rebecca Stead

Quotes from the same author

I think I'm still fed by my childhood experience of reading, even though obviously I'm reading many books now and a lot of them are books for children but I feel like childhood reading is this magic window and there's something that you sort of carry for the rest of your life when a book has really changed you as a kid, or affected you, or even made you recognize something about yourself.
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 Rebecca Stead
Beautiful and fresh, Girl Saves Boy is full of the absolute truth-life is complicated. I could not put it down.
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 Rebecca Stead
But every person has to learn to accept what has happened in the past. Without bitterness. Or there is no point in continuing with life.
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 Rebecca Stead