"Watching his father and his uncles, Clay-Boy was impatient to be one of them." Chapter 1, pg. 6

"'It wasn't no boy killed that deer, Clay,' he said. 'It took a man to do it.'" Chapter 2, pg. 19

"Once only came the saddest sound in the world, the single unanswered voice of a whippoorwill, but there was no one to hear it." Chapter 3, pg. 45

"The thought of leaving saddened the boy." Chapter 5, pg. 67

"'I've said it all my life,' vowed Clay. 'Not one of my babies will ever work in that sump hole and my word still holds.'" Chapter 6, pg. 90

"Men are strange creatures, thought Olivia as she yawned and rolled her head against the pillows; they really believe all the things they promise women." Chapter 7, pg. 114

"'Them city people ain't no different from the rest of us.'" Chapter 9, pg. 134

"He consumed more books during that...