The Secret Keepers Quotes

“It was occurring to Reuben that people, especially adults, are rather quick to dismiss small mysteries, to assume that they have simply misunderstood or failed to observe something, and to go on about their business.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“And when I do crave privacy, I have only to flip the "Closed" sign on my shop door until I'm feeling sociable again. Everyone should have such signs on their doors, don't you think?”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“The ocean was the greatest secret keeper of all. Some of its secrets, like the hidden shoals, could be discovered, but most would never be known. Thousands upon thousands might be revealed, yet there would always be more that remained hidden. The ocean was probably the most mysterious thing in the world, Reuben thought, except for a person.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“That summer morning in the Lower Downs began as usual for Reuben Pedley. He rose early to have breakfast with his mom before she left for work, a quiet breakfast because they were both still sleepy. Afterward, also as usual, he cleaned up their tiny kitchen while his mom moved faster and faster in her race against the clock (whose numerals she seemed quite unable to read before she’d had coffee and a shower). Then his mom was hugging him goodbye at the apartment door, where Reuben told her he loved her, which was true—and that she had no reason to worry about him, which was not. His”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“Nobody crossed the Directions, not even the police. Because the Directions worked for The Smoke. Reuben headed south, moving from alley to alley, keeping close to the buildings and ducking beneath windows.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“Jack just needed to play his cards right. What was it Penny had said? The Meyers would be incomparable poker players, if only they gambled. Well, Jack was gambling, all right. Reuben could only hope he was good enough.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“Strange as it might seem, it made Reuben feel closer to his mom, and he was sure she felt the same way, though they’d never discussed it. Talking about it might ruin the effect.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“Boy finds treasure, plummets to his death. Great story. It”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“Why does Mr. Harsch hate you?” Reuben asked, somewhat absently, for he was only partly listening. He’d never been in a motorboat and was preoccupied by the rumble of the engine, the smell of exhaust fumes now drifting astern, the lovely rush of water along the sides. “Or, I mean, pretend to hate you?” “Who can say?” Jack replied with a shrug. “Maybe because I keep borrowing his boat.” They”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“For all they know, the rowboat just slipped its moorings,” Jack said, ushering Reuben and Penny into the wheelhouse. “Accidents happen.” He started the motor, and the flooring thrummed beneath their feet. Penny glanced around with a look of growing apprehension. “Wait a minute, whose gillnetter is this? It looks like Mr. Harsch’s.” “It is Mr. Harsch’s,” Jack said as the old boat began to plow forward. “What? But he hates you! You said you were borrowing a boat from a friend!” “Our friendship is kind of a secret,” Jack said, turning the wheel. “Nobody knows about it but me.” Penny covered her face with her hands. “Don’t”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“It would be years before it was operating the way a proper city should - which is to say, messily, but more or less freely and honestly, with its citizens accountable to one another and to those they've chosen to represent them, rather than to entities, spectral or otherwise, whose own interests are not in the interest of the people.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“Seeing the city like this for the first time, from the backseat of a car in the early morning darkness, approaching it from an unfamiliar direction, Reuben was struck by how alien it seemed to him. Was New Umbra really his home? It didn't feel like it. The city was just the place where he had been living his life. Home wasn't so much a place as a person. His mom. The two of them thinking of dream houses, sharing a doughnut in the bakery, making each other laugh. The city was just a grim backdrop to that.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“Standing in the doorway, regarding him with an expression of predatory pleasure, was The Smoke.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“once belonged to Penelope (Reuben hadn’t”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“He cranked the key until the watch was fully wound, then withdrew the key and held the watch to his ear.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“would this scrap of leather have been mortared into the wall where no one would ever see it? Was it some kind of secret sign?”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“Even as she was gathering herself, the watchmaker found something—something unexpected—that bolstered her courage. It was as if she were being rewarded for having resolved to do the right thing, no matter the cost. It was a very strange and good feeling, she thought, as she picked up the phone. To feel happy despite being afraid.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers

“His mom had elfish features with, typically, an elfish look of mischief and confidence about them—except when she was worried about her son.”
― Trenton Lee Stewart, The Secret Keepers