Freckled Quotes

“If you permit your thoughts to dwell on evil, you yourself will become ugly. Look only for the good in everything so you absorb the quality of beauty.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“As long as I can read, I can get through anything.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“Own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“Happiness bubbles inside me, so strong that I’m afraid of how I’ll feel when it’s over.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“I’m crying, and it’s not nice little girl crying. Powerful, terrible feelings take me over and explode out of my body, feelings I’ve always been scared to let out because they’re so strong. The crying is huge and snotty and loud. I hit everything around me, grabbing a tree and banging my head on it, kicking bushes that lash back at me. The pain feels good, soothing the bone-deep grief and fiery burning rage as all the things that are wrong with my world erupt all at once.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“severe astigmatism, which is a malformation of the lens of your eye. You’ll have to get new glasses every six months until the degeneration slows down after puberty.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“Pop trips over some vegetation and lets go. I’m roaring down the slanting, bumpy dirt path, trying to dodge the rocks and shrieking with delighted terror. I’m heading into the stand of Java plum trees at the end of our clearing when I lose balance and crash into a lantana bush. I’m winded and scratched as I try to crawl out of the prickly bush. My bike lies in the path, tires spinning, already getting smeared with red Kauai dirt. Pop runs over and picks me up to see if I’m okay. My knees have hit something and are scraped, lantana thorns tangle my hair, but I’m panting with excitement. “Let’s do it again!”
― Toby Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“To victims of bullying: the best revenge is a well-lived life. To kids bullied in school for any reason: red-haired, poor, black, white, Asian, Mexican, Guatemalan, Micronesian, zitty, chubby, four-eyed, dorky, dweeby, ditzy, and a million others: you might need to retreat, but never give up. Persevere, and someday you’ll look back and see how your wounds made you stronger. Your life is what you make it in the long run—don’t let a bully win by stealing your future.”
― Toby Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“Hawaiians are usually outwardly friendly, but slow to open up to real relationships outside of their immediate circles. Many people try to settle in the Islands, enamored of palm trees and good weather, but those who last are few. Complicating race relations further, the native Hawaiians’ trust was betrayed and their lands stolen. They invented aloha, but they also were fierce warriors with very long memories.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“The weight of her body and all the nights I’ve walked her and carried her have made a baby-shaped impression on my chest and arms.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“I’m crying for the end of my childhood, for all the silly, lovable, naughty ponies in the world who have to die someday—because we all do. Everything good always ends.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“now it’s like we were never there in that special place with the lokelani roses in the shadow of Makana Mountain.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“What is your impression of the author? What do you think of Toby’s writing style? What do you think of her storytelling ability? Would you read another book by this author?”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“Reading continues to be my best escape, a magic carpet of adventure ready to take me away any time I open those big stiff covers with their delightful musty library smell.”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

“I’m good at making things and inventing stories, and I’m never bored—but I miss the Mom who laughed and hugged and read to us a lot. This withdrawn, sad Mom with her faraway stare,”
― T.W. Neal, Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii