Crenshaw Quotes

“Imaginary friends are like books. We're created, we're enjoyed, we're dog-eared and creased, and then we're tucked away until we're needed again.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Fun fact, Jackson. You can't see sound waves, but you can hear music.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“I like not knowing everything. It makes things more interesting.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Here’s the thing, Jackson. Life is messy. It’s complicated. It would be nice if life were always like this.” He drew an imaginary line that kept going up and up. “But life is actually a lot more like this.” He made a jiggly line that went up and down like a mountain range. “You just have to keep trying.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Meantime, I was going to enjoy the magic while I could.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“What bothered me most, though, was that I couldn’t fix anything. I couldn’t control anything. It was like driving a bumper car without a steering wheel. I kept getting slammed, and I just had to sit there and hold on tight.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“My mom told me once that money problems sort of sneak up on you. She said it’s like catching a cold. At first you just have a tickle in your throat, and then you have a headache, and then maybe you’re coughing a little. The next thing you know, you have a pile of Kleenexes around your bed and you’re hacking your lungs up.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“And right then I knew, the way you know that it’s going to rain long before the first drop splatters on your nose, that something was about to change.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Crenshaw and I didn’t chat much during those weeks on the road. There was always someone around to interrupt us. But that was okay. I knew he was there and that was enough. Sometimes that’s all you really need from a friend.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“The first time I met Crenshaw was about three years ago, right after first grade ended. It was early evening, and my family and I had parked at a rest stop off a highway. I was lying on the grass near a picnic table, gazing up at the stars blinking to life. I heard a noise, a wheels-on-gravel skateboard sound. I sat up on my elbows. Sure enough, a skater on a board was threading his way through the parking lot. I could see right away that he was an unusual guy. He was a black and white kitten. A big one, taller than me. His eyes were the sparkly color of morning grass. He was wearing a black and orange San Francisco Giants baseball cap. He hopped off his board and headed my way. He was standing on two legs just like a human. “Meow,” he said. “Meow,” I said back, because it seemed polite.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“I felt like I’d taken off an itchy sweater on a cold day: relieved to be rid of it, but surprised by how chilly the air turned out to be.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Facts are so much better than stories. You can’t see a story. You can’t hold it in your hand and measure it. You can’t hold a manatee in your hand either. But still. Stories are lies, when you get right down to it. And I don’t like being lied to. I’ve never been much into make-believe stuff. When I was a kid, I didn’t dress up like Batman or talk to stuffed animals or worry about monsters under my bed.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“What’s that expression?” asked my mom. “Fall down seven times, get up eight?”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“If I never talked about it, I felt like it couldn’t ever happen again.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“I guess getting out of homelessness doesn’t happen all at once, either. We were lucky. Some people live in their cars for years. I’m not looking on the bright side. It was pretty scary. And stinky. But my parents took care of us the best they could. After a month, my dad got a part-time job at a hardware store. My mom picked up some extra waitressing shifts, and my dad kept singing for tips. Every time his fishing sign got wet, I made him a new one. Slowly they started saving money, bit by bit, to pay for a rental deposit on an apartment. It was sort of like getting over a cold. Sometimes you feel like you’ll never stop coughing. Other times you’re sure tomorrow is the day you’ll definitely be well.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“I guess becoming homeless doesn’t happen all at once. My mom told me once that money problems sort of sneak up on you. She said it’s like catching a cold. At first you just have a tickle in your throat, and then you have a headache, and then maybe you’re coughing a little. The next thing you know, you have a pile of Kleenexes around your bed and you’re hacking your lungs up.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Fine, Jackson,” he whispered, eyes lasering in on the frog. “You win. I’ll leave, do bit of hunting. I am, after all, a creature of the night. Meantime, you get to work.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “On what, exactly?” “The facts. You need to tell the truth, my friend.” The frog twitched, and Crenshaw froze, pure muscle and instinct. “Which facts? Tell the truth to who?” Crenshaw pulled his gaze off the frog. He looked at me, and to my surprise, I saw tenderness in his eyes. “To the person who matters most of all.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“It’s surprising how much stuff adults don’t know.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“I noticed several weird things about the surfboarding cat. Thing number one: He was a surfboarding cat. Thing number two: He was wearing a T-shirt. It said CATS RULE, DOGS DROOL. Thing number three: He was holding a closed umbrella, like he was worried about getting wet. Which, when you think about it, is kind of not the point of surfing. Thing number four: No one else on the beach seemed to see him.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“She said she sometimes wondered if maybe bats are better human beings than human beings are.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Why can’t you just be like other parents?” I demanded. I was crying hard. I gasped for breath. “Why does it have to be this way?”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Well, it’s hard being a kid, too,” I said. I was glad I sounded so angry. “It’s hard not to know what’s happening.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“I wasn’t lying, exactly. It was more that I left out certain facts and focused on others. I didn’t want to do it, of course. I liked facts. And so did Marisol. But sometimes facts were just too hard to share. I decided to tell Marisol something about a sick relative,”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“I was amazed how easy the lying came. It was like turning on a faucet. The words just rushed right out. I felt guilty for not feeling guilty. I mean, I’d shoplifted. I’d taken something that didn’t belong to me. I was a criminal. But I told myself that in nature it’s survival of the fittest. Eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed. They say those things a lot in nature films. Right after the lion eats the zebra. Of course I wasn’t a lion. I was a person who knew right from wrong. And stealing was wrong. But here’s the truth. I felt crummy about the stealing. But I felt even worse about the lying.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“With a great show of effort, Crenshaw sat up. He stretched, easing his back into an upside-down U. “I don’t think you understand what’s going on here, Jackson,” he said. “Imaginary friends don’t come of their own volition. We are invited. We stay as long as we’re needed. And then, and only then, do we leave.” “Well, I sure didn’t invite you.” Crenshaw sent me a doubtful look. His long, whiskery brows moved like strings on a marionette.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“But my parents were optimists. They looked at half a glass of water and figured it was half full, not half empty. Not me. Scientists can’t afford to be optimists or pessimists. They just observe the world and see what is. They look at a glass of water and measure 3.75 ounces or whatever, and that’s the end of the discussion.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“My parents were more complicated. It’s hard to explain, especially since I know this sounds like a good thing, but they were always looking on the bright side. Even when things were bad—and they’d been bad a lot—they joked. They acted silly. They pretended everything was fine.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“There’s always a logical explanation, I told myself. Always.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“What bothered me most, though, was that i couldn't fix anything. I couldn't control anything. It was like driving a bumper car without a steering wheel. I kept getting slammed, and I just had to sit there and hold on tight.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“sometimes. If”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw