Across the Green Grass Fields (Wayward Children, #6)

by Seanan McGuire

She knew even without asking that Heather was no longer a part of the trusted inner circle: she had performed girlhood incorrectly

Regan followed her through the world like a silent shadow, always careful to keep herself tucked inside the box Laurel had drawn, the one labeled “girl” in glittering, immutable letters.

Maybe she would have realized that if there was no right way to be a girl, there was no wrong way either.

Manure was manure, even when it came out of a unicorn.

Anything with enough brain to know itself as an individual will reach out to others, looking for companionship, looking for other eyes with which to see the world.

anyone who answered a friend’s honesty with horror and rejection had never been a friend in the first place.