Top 250 Ann Napolitano Quotes (2026 Update)
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151. “He had given her substance by telling her story.”

— Ann Napolitano

152. “Perhaps Sylvie’s body had been ultimately unable to bear the distance between Chicago and New York.”

— Ann Napolitano

153. “I know it sounds silly, but I’m proud of myself. I guess for living a brave life.”

— Ann Napolitano

154. “He’d followed her every instruction, but eventually the directions had led him so far away from himself that he was no longer a person.”

— Ann Napolitano

155. “With no sleep, the days took on the emotional cast – and the loud losses – of the night.”

— Ann Napolitano

156. “Waters? A little sunshine never did anyone any harm.”

— Ann Napolitano

157. “Sylvie had been hurt by Charlie’s death; Julia had been shipwrecked too. Charlie Padavano had felt essential to his daughters, as if he was part of their own construction.”

— Ann Napolitano

158. “He nods. Jordan was given the series as a birthday gift and then had the idea to take the books out of the library as well, so he and his brother could read them at the same time. They lay in their bunks for hours, for several weeks on end, mowing through one book after another. Jordan would call out from the top bunk: Holy cow, Eddie, are you on page 202 yet?”

— Ann Napolitano

159. “You’ll all set sail, as you should, and leave your mother and me here. It’s a tale as old as time.”

— Ann Napolitano

160. “Their mother was their safe space, and so, with her, they felt every iota of their feelings.”

— Ann Napolitano

161. “Nothing and no one existed in a vacuum.”

— Ann Napolitano

162. “He watches his new life walk into his old life.”

— Ann Napolitano

163. “William wanted to cup his hands again, to hold close his love for his wife, to hold close her love for him.”

— Ann Napolitano

164. “He wanted to keep his place on the court, and he knew that if he made the other boys better, he had value.”

— Ann Napolitano

165. “And just like that, the two little girls in their beds on 18th Place were silenced. The child inside Julia lay wide-eyed in the dark, knowing that she was Jo, but only because Sylvie was Beth.”

— Ann Napolitano

166. “Sylvie was composed of question marks and feelings that she didn’t know what to do with, as if her hands were full and she was wearing pants with no pockets.”

— Ann Napolitano

167. “We thought the boy might want this.”

— Ann Napolitano

168. “He knows the loss of Jordan will remain with him forever, even as Edward slowly leaves his parents behind. He was supposed to grow up and leave his mom and dad, after all, just like he will leave John and Lacey in the fall when he goes to college. That is part of the natural order. Edward wasn’t supposed to leave Jordan, though. They were meant to age together. That loss continues to be spiked with pain; it will never be soothed.”

— Ann Napolitano

169. “The Padavanos talked about Charlie as if he were still part of their lives, still part of themselves, and because of that: He was.”

— Ann Napolitano

170. “You have to keep growing, or you don’t live.”

— Ann Napolitano

171. “Emeline had always seemed occupied with watching everyone else and trying to be helpful, but she’d stayed on the sidelines, as if it weren’t her turn to live.”

— Ann Napolitano

172. “No matter how many minutes remained on the clock, there was no chance of victory.”

— Ann Napolitano

173. “She was stitching her life and heart together, and she wanted to keep it all before her: a beautiful whole.”

— Ann Napolitano

174. “Alice had always found her grandmother’s agitation comforting. It made her feel safe, because she knew if someone was ever mean to her, Grandma Rose would let them have it.”

— Ann Napolitano

175. “Sylvie steered away from labels. She wanted to be true to herself with every word she uttered, every action she took, and every belief she held.”

— Ann Napolitano

176. “They’re telling me about all the bad things that have happened to their bodies,” William said to Arash. “Not just what happened on the court.” Arash nodded. “I’m glad.” “You’re glad?” “They need to let that out to someone. We hardly ever ask each other how we’ve been hurt.”

— Ann Napolitano

177. “He’d never had this level of molecular awareness before, never felt so much in a single moment. William had always evaded the pointed spears that emotions threw at him and been quick to smother any uncomfortable sensations. He had a hard time believing that other people were able to stand being alive if it came at them with this intensity.”

— Ann Napolitano

178. “Rose glared in Sylvie’s direction with an anger she didn’t understand but that made Sylvie’s.”

— Ann Napolitano

179. “By not being shared, their love story remained intact.”

— Ann Napolitano

180. “It’s because you know that more is possible that you’ll always see the pointlessness in following a stupid rule or clocking in and out of a boring class. Most people can’t see that distinction, so they just do as they’re told. Of course, this makes them bored and irritated, but they think that’s the human condition. You and I are lucky enough to see that it doesn’t have to be that way.”

— Ann Napolitano

181. “Grief is love.” Now Alice thought: Forgiveness is too. The.”

— Ann Napolitano

182. “And besides, you can’t fail when you’re doing what you love.”

— Ann Napolitano

183. “He never would have reached this point, the middle, without her.”

— Ann Napolitano

184. “They were both twenty-three years old. William felt at least forty – which was ancient.”

— Ann Napolitano

185. “Sylvie would keep boycotting boring classes to read in parks. She wouldn’t settle for less than true love, even though her sisters had issued a collective sigh when she told them that Ernie had asked her out on a proper date and she’d turned him down. She would wait, forever if necessary, for a man who saw the expanse of her, the way her father had.”

— Ann Napolitano

186. “I’m not going to waste their kindness.”

— Ann Napolitano

187. “Sylvie had talked about one-two punches, about how Charlie had died on the day Izzy was born, and Sylvie had clearly used her magic to somehow bring William his daughter on the day his heart broke. His wife was trying to save him, yet again.”

— Ann Napolitano

188. “Do you have everything you need for the flight?” Julia said, and then thought, Why can I only say stupid things? She wanted to be in this moment with her mother and sister, but she wasn’t. She was a cheap bouncy ball in the middle of a gunfight.”

— Ann Napolitano

189. “Alice nodded in vague agreement, but it seemed too early for gossip, like going on vacation and buying a house on the first day. She thought, But we don’t know any of these people. I don’t know you. We’re all strangers.”

— Ann Napolitano

190. “She knew it was a strange contradiction, but despite her interest in love, weddings made her uncomfortable. They were too showy, too public. Deep love between two people was a private, wordless endeavor, and to place the lovers in fancy clothes in front of a crowd seemed antithetical to the nature of the thing. No one could see love – this was what Sylvie believed, anyway. It was an internal state. Watching that moment between two lovers felt wrong to her, almost blasphemous.”

— Ann Napolitano

191. “You and I are cut from the same cloth, baby girl. Neither of us would expect school or work to fill us up. We look out the window, or into ourselves, for something more.”

— Ann Napolitano

192. “Edward spends every night reaching for unconsciousness as if it were a rock in the middle of a river, while a fierce current pulls him away. His fingertips sometimes.”

— Ann Napolitano

193. “People fly despite knowing that a certain percentage of airplanes crash every year.”

— Ann Napolitano

194. “William worked on his passing too, so he could feed the ball to the best players in the park. He wanted to keep his place on the court, and he knew that if he made the other boys better, he had value.”

— Ann Napolitano

195. “It felt like she’d been holding an umbrella to deny that it was raining, and now the umbrella was gone, and she was standing in a storm.”

— Ann Napolitano

196. “Her family was a mirror in which she recognized her reflection.”

— Ann Napolitano

197. “Some cover themselves with a jacket or blanket; like turtles, they withdraw into their shells.”

— Ann Napolitano

198. “She could feel her friends’ love pushing past her skin, into her body, and she cried too.”

— Ann Napolitano

199. “I knew that if I never found my great love, I would rather be single than settle for a mediocre relationship. I can’t bear to pretend happiness.”

— Ann Napolitano

200. “Sylvie suddenly felt sad, and her voice sounded sad too – was there some basic human truth that if you were naked, you couldn’t control the tone of your voice? Like, her voice was naked too?”

— Ann Napolitano