"According to his mother, Jack Burns was an actor before he was an actor, but Jack's most vivid memories of childhood were those moments when he felt compelled to hold his mother's hand. He wasn't acting then." Chapter 1, p. 3

"It was the first time anyone had said Jack looked like his father. Jack's mother stared at him as if she were aware of the resemblance for the first time." Chapter 4, p. 54

"To a four-year-old it was a very confusing story. Then again, maybe you had to be a four-year-old to believe it." Chapter 7, p. 102

"Jack Burns took from Miss Wurtz a lifelong lesson: life was not a stage; life was improv. Miss Wurtz had no tolerance for improvisation; the children learned their lines, speaking them exactly as they were written." Chapter 10, p. 163

"With Mrs. Machado as his regular workout partner, Jack's wrestling noticeably improved - although not as...