"Many people are afraid of the procedure. Some people even resist. But I'm not afraid. I can't wait." (Chapter 1, p. 5).

"My aunt has always talked about marriage with words straight out of The Book of Shhh, words like duty, responsibility, and perseverance." (Chapter 3, p. 14-15).

"On night like that—although it is wrong and illegal—I think of those strange and terrible words, I love you, and wonder what they would taste like in my mouth, try to recall their lilting rhythm on my mother's tongue." (Chapter 5, p. 33-34).

"We'll be adults—cured, tagged and labeled and paired and identified and placed neatly on our life path, perfectly round marbles set to roll down even, well-defined slopes." (Chapter 7, p. 66).

"This music ebbs and flows, irregular, sad. It reminds me, weirdly, of watching the ocean during a bad storm, the lashing, crashing waves and the spray...