Top 90 Sharon M. Draper Quotes (2026 Update)
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51. “Thoughts need words. Words need a voice. I love the smell of my mother’s hair after she washes it. I love the feel of the scratchy stubble on my father’s face before he shaves. But I’ve never been able to tell them.”

— Sharon M. Draper

52. “A library filled with thousands of books waiting for a thirsty kid like me to gulp them down.”

— Sharon M. Draper

53. “Earthquake report: Expect big aftershocks – nothing like this has ever been seen before.”

— Sharon M. Draper

54. “The doors of Target opened with a welcoming swoosh, and I was instantly distracted. Yeah. Target does that to me. I feel at home. They’ve got stuff I need. Stuff I don’t need. Stuff I didn’t even know I wanted. Neatly placed and waiting for me. I love that place.”

— Sharon M. Draper

55. “I have learned to be patient with people. Once again I point to Rose’s computer and then to the words me too.”

— Sharon M. Draper

56. “What’s the sense of living if you’re ashamed of yourself? Stella’s father said almost to himself.”

— Sharon M. Draper

57. “But Penny was born perfect and copper-bright, just like her name. From the minute she came home from the hospital, she was a really happy baby. Mom truly did carry a little bundle of joy into the house. But.”

— Sharon M. Draper

58. “Stella wondered how silence could be so loud.”

— Sharon M. Draper

59. “Dad also has the loudest, stinkiest farts in creation. I don’t know how he manages to control them at work, or even if he does, but when he’d get home, he’d let them loose. They’d start as he walked up the stairs.”

— Sharon M. Draper

60. “I like how a book feels when I turn the pages, and how the ink smells – almost like something good to eat.”

— Sharon M. Draper

61. “She read it over one last time, not really satisfied, but it was the truth. Even if it still had some scratch-outs.”

— Sharon M. Draper

62. “It’s hard to imagine you and Daddy as ever being young and foolish. I figured you just appeared one day, fully grown and knowing all the answers,” she teased.”

— Sharon M. Draper

63. “Finally he said, “Bad writers don’t practice, Stella. It’s the good ones who care enough to try, who worry about getting the words just right. You are probably better than you think.”

— Sharon M. Draper

64. “We’ve got to think positive thoughts.”

— Sharon M. Draper

65. “Nobody rides trains anymore!”

— Sharon M. Draper

66. “I can create any musical combination of sounds on my piano. That’s my superpower.”

— Sharon M. Draper

67. “Twenty minutes later, just as Stella thought she was going to collapse with worry and anticipation, her father, the pastor, and Mr. Spencer emerged from the polling station, smiles lighting their faces. And now she saw what she’d expected to see earlier in Mr. Spencer’s eyes. They were on fire.”

— Sharon M. Draper

68. “Stella’s father hesitated. “Georgia supports me, but she was a mite trembly this morning. I brought Stella though.“He squeezed her shoulders affectionately. “I don’t want to just tell her about bravery – I want to show her what it looks like.”

— Sharon M. Draper

69. “I tried so hard, I farted! Mrs.”

— Sharon M. Draper

70. “If Maria is our hugger, Gloria is our rocker. She rocks for hours in the corner under one of the dumb smiling flowers.”

— Sharon M. Draper

71. “Earthquake report: Call the paramedics. A girl in fifth grade is about to explode.”

— Sharon M. Draper

72. “Then let us pray,” Pastor Patton said firmly. Stella noticed a few townspeople slowing down as they passed by; none of the faces looked pleasant. She closed her eyes. “Dear Lord,” said the pastor, we bow down before you as we stand up for dignity. Be with us and protect us both morning, noon and night. Amen.”

— Sharon M. Draper

73. “I felt like a real girl.”

— Sharon M. Draper

74. “Sometimes I just get tired of bowin’ down and givin’ up, you know?” It.”

— Sharon M. Draper

75. “A couple of weeks later my dad and I were in the car and we passed by a McDonald’s. I screeched and kicked and pointed like Godzilla was coming down the street. Dad must have thought I was nuts. Finally, he said, “Would you like to stop and get a Big Mac and a shake for dinner tonight as a treat?”

— Sharon M. Draper

76. “Yesterday your heart was broken because they left you.”

— Sharon M. Draper

77. “Never in my life have I had a teacher tell me to be quiet because I was talking to somebody in class! It was the best feeling in the world! I felt like the rest of the kids.”

— Sharon M. Draper

78. “My father sang to me. My mother whispered her strength into my ear.”

— Sharon M. Draper

79. “I think for only a minute. S-T-E-P-H-E-N H-A-W-K-I-N-G, I spell out. I want to know how he does ordinary stuff, like eating and drinking. After all, he’s a grown man. Does his wife put him on the toilet? He has kids. How does he manage to be a dad? And I want to know about his talking devices, the supercool computers that help him talk and do really hard math problems, like finding black holes in space.”

— Sharon M. Draper

80. “Sonatina in C Major, op. 36, no. 1.”

— Sharon M. Draper

81. “Our team hasn’t done anything special. They don’t need to. They have me.”

— Sharon M. Draper

82. “I wondered if I were blown to Oz with my dog, what would we ask the wizard for? Hmmm. Brains? I’ve got plenty. Courage? Butterscotch is scared of nothing! A heart? We’ve got lots of heart, me and my pup. So what would I ask for? I’d like to sing like the Cowardly Lion and dance like the Tin Man. Neither one of them did those things very well, but that would be good enough for me.”

— Sharon M. Draper

83. “Most of the time, their balloon zipped across that grass lik eit.”

— Sharon M. Draper

84. “At school Rose whispered with me about the trip, just like I’d seen other kids do when they have secrets. I felt like a real girl.”

— Sharon M. Draper

85. “I figured the teacher offered me the candy to shut up Claire and Molly and to make me feel good that I accidentally got all the questions right. But it was no accident. I knew them all. Every single one.”

— Sharon M. Draper

86. “Those aides deserve medals. We’re not an easy bunch.”

— Sharon M. Draper

87. “Deleted the memory – need room for facts,” I took the time to type.”

— Sharon M. Draper

88. “Put yourself in Melody’s chair. Write a paper that tells what it would be like to be Melody for one day. Write about your feelings and frustrations.”

— Sharon M. Draper

89. “The week zipped by. I studied at school every day with Catherine, after school every day with Mrs. V, and every evening at home as well. I reviewed words from all the levels of my board. I practiced spelling long words and matching facts and dates. I made up my own games.”

— Sharon M. Draper

90. “Here’s the thing: I’m ridiculously smart, and I’m pretty sure I have a photographic memory. It’s like I have a camera in my head, and if I see or hear something, I click it, and it stays. I saw a special on PBS once on children who were geniuses. These kids could remember complicated strands of numbers and recall words and pictures in correct sequence and quote long passages of poetry. So can I.”

— Sharon M. Draper

91. “I’ve seen dozens of doctors in my life, who all try to analyze me and figure me out. None of them can fix me, so I usually ignore them and act like the retarded person they think I am.”

— Sharon M. Draper

92. “I guess I figured out I was different a little at a time. Since I never had trouble thinking or remembering, it actually sort of surprised me that I couldn’t do stuff. And it made me angry.”

— Sharon M. Draper

93. “Talk. I pointed to my board. I hit the word again and again. Talk. Talk. Talk.”

— Sharon M. Draper

94. “Everybody uses words to express themselves. Except me. And I bet most people don’t realize the real power of words. But I do. Thoughts.”

— Sharon M. Draper