Forever Rose Quotes

“He will grow up into one of those people who lean back to smile and jump so easily it looks like slow motion and steer cars with their knees and snitch roses from gardens to give to girls and write with their left hand and own two pairs of jeans and one jacket and fall in love from such a height and so hard and so completely that they never quite recover from the drop.

But at least he will have me to look out for him.”
― Hilary McKay, Forever Rose

“Kiran says (the shelf) is full of stories. If it is, then I like fairy stories. Fairy stories are fair. In them wishes are granted, words are enchanted, the honest and brave make it safely through to the last page and the baddies either have to give up their wickedness for ever and ever, no going back, or get ruthlessly written out of the story, which they hardly ever survive. Also in fairy stories there are hardly any of those half-good half-bad people that crop up so constantly in real life and are so difficult to believe in...”
― Hilary McKay, Forever Rose

“Daddy sleeked back his hair and the doorbell rang.

'Answer the door, Rose,' said Indigo.

'I will,' said David kindly, and began getting to his feet, and Saffy and Caddy and Indigo and Michael all grabbed him, exclaiming 'No, you won't!'

So I answered the door.

How can that be?

How can it be that this person is here?

Is it a trick?

Is it Christmas magic?

That guitar strap looks exactly like the one I bought.



'TOM!!!' I screamed, and dragged him in through the door.

Tom said 'Happy Christmas, Permanent Rose! I can't believe you didn't guess!'

I said 'But what time is it in New York?'

'What does it matter what time it is in New York?' asked Tom. 'I'm not in New York. I'm here.”
― Hilary McKay, Forever Rose

“Miss Farley recognized him.

'We must find you a seat near the front!' she cried, loud enough for the whole school to hear and abandoning her raffle tickets in her excitement. 'Recorders! One moment please while we find a place for Baby Jesus's grandad!”
― Hilary McKay, Forever Rose

“There are many safe places in my bedroom, and with Molly and Kiran's help I searched them all. I found a bundle of dead roses, a homemade CD from America, several guitar picks (how I wish I could see Tom again), a photo of me on Grandad's knee, a sponge shaped like a dinosaur, a T-shirt with teh sleeves chopped off and CRIME PAYS in iron-on letters across the front, a hat that I had when I was five and which was exactly like a hat Sarah used to wear, a packet of banana-flavored chews (why did I keep them?), and a picture of our house that I drew long, long ago on my first day at school. And I found, last of all, in the pocket of a jacket that used to be Indigo's, the diamond ring.”
― Hilary McKay, Forever Rose

“Please do not close the window, Indy, fresh air kills germs.'

'Hypothermia,' said Indigo, not obeying, 'kills people. And anyway, Rose's lips are going blue.”
― Hilary McKay, Forever Rose

“You look terrible,' said Saffy sternly.

'I always look terrible at two o'clock in the morning,' Mummy replied, splashing cold tap water on her face.”
― Hilary McKay, Forever Rose

“School is no longer a peaceful place where you can catch up on your daydreaming, forget your family ( or what is left of your family) and talk about things like Dr. Who and how to stop GLobal Warming (we all know how but we don't stop it) and if it is okay for boys to wear pink and all those other things we talk about.”
― Hilary McKay, Forever Rose