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I pick up my sister and smell her baby smell. She rubs her eyes with her fists the way she always does when she's sleepy. Then she opens her mouth and puts it on my cheek. "Was that a kiss?" I ask. More

I'd rather stay with Ray than go onto the fourth grade playground where Laura and Allison stand so close that there's no space left for me.More

Master says Dave--that suits you. That's your name." He can call me whatever he pleases, tom or John or Will or Dave, no matter. I had another name once.More

By the Ginkgo tree I see three children wearing hats – one red, one blue, one yellow – and mittened hands already busy scooping, piling, dumping. They mound and carve and pat until they have a house around the tree trunk with one chair for each.More