The Lost Girls of Willowbrook Quotes

“It was just easier to believe in the boogeyman than to acknowledge that there were so many evil people in the world.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“Couldn’t they see she was terrified? Didn’t they know she was falling apart?”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“The more she fought, the less they would listen. She had to act rational and sound calm, despite the fact that inside she was screaming hysterically.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“You just want to hide all the abuse and neglect that goes on here, no matter who suffers.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“Then she fell out of the chair, and the world went away.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“The world had come alive in her eyes, and she'd shared it with everyone, pointing out monarchs & dandelions, how the sun sparkled like diamonds on the snow & water, the glow of birthday candles on the ceiling when the lights were turned out.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“Even if they lived alone with an old cat, she longed to be one of them instead of who she was: a grieving, unloved girl on her way to a mental institution to look for her lost sister.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“She felt like a feather that could be blown away by a gust of wind and no one would miss her.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“Chết tiệt, động vật còn được đối xử tốt hơn cư dân ở đây”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“writing of The Lost Girls of Willowbrook, I relied on the following books: American Snake Pit by Dan Tomasulo; The Willowbrook Wars by David J. Rothman and Sheila M. Rothman; A History and Sociology of Willowbrook State School by David Goode, Darryl Hill, Jean Reiss, and William Bronston. I also watched Geraldo Rivera’s expose, “Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace,” and “Cropsey,” a documentary by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“an author who endeavors to cast light on social injustices of the past within my novels,”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“painful memories were not going to steal the wonderful parts of life away from her, or stain them in any way.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“If only she hadn’t let her pride get in the way, none of this would have happened.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“a sudden realization hit her. At least she was getting out. At least she had a chance to live a normal life. The days and weeks ahead might be difficult, but they would be nothing compared to what Rosemary and the thousands of poor souls locked inside Willowbrook suffered day after day after day. They never stood a chance. She wiped her flooding eyes. How could life be so unfair? How could God let anyone, let alone innocent children, live lives full of nothing but suffering? It was incomprehensible.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“How could she ever look at life the same way again?”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“It was more life than most of the Willowbrook residents had ever experienced. And she’d taken it all for granted.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“grief over losing her sister six years ago—the horrible, heavy heartache she could still feel to this day—was not something to joke about.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“What happened there should serve as a reminder to us all that we need to be more protective of the most vulnerable among us, and that every human being has the right to learn and grow and, more importantly, to be treated with kindness, respect, and compassion.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“The cheaters are the ones who scream and yell, the ones who try to place blame on the other person.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“do you think most people today are unfamiliar with the history of Willowbrook? 2. When Sage discovers that her twin sister, Rosemary, has gone missing from Willowbrook, she takes a bus to the institution to help with the search. She goes alone because her stepfather is cold and indifferent, and she feels like her friends are unreliable. Do you think Sage’s lack of knowledge about the “school” influenced her decision to go there by herself? What would you have done in that”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“Discussion Questions 1. An institution for people with disabilities, the Willowbrook State School opened in 1947 on Staten Island, New York, and remained in operation until 1987. Despite having a maximum capacity of 4,000 people, by 1965 it housed over 6,000 intellectually and physically disabled children and adults, becoming the largest state-run mental institution of its kind in the United States. Due to staff and money shortages, there was only one nurse per ward, one or two attendants per 35 to 125 residents, and more than 200 residents living in houses built for fewer than 100. An estimated 12,000 residents died at Willowbrook from 1950 to 1980, approximately 400 a year, due to neglect, violence, lack of nutrition, and medical mismanagement or experimentation. What was your awareness of Willowbrook State School before reading The Lost Girls of”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“Outside the windshield, the pillared gates to Willowbrook stood open, gaping, and hungry for their next victim, like the mouth of a hushed, breathing beast.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“But his eyes were cold and calm. Secret-hiding eyes. Sage knew that pictures, just like people, could be deceiving: one moment in time captured on film,”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“A mother, especially, was supposed to love and protect her children to the end of her days.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“The nightmares of him breaking into her apartment to slit her throat had dwindled over the years, but they still jolted her awake sometimes, leaving her sweating and tangled in her sheets. Maybe now they would finally stop. In the meantime, she would continue to count her many blessings, like Rosemary would have wanted her to, and she would continue to show herself mercy by putting the horrors of her past behind her. She wiped her eyes and stood. Then, instead of clipping out the article about Eddie to put in her scrapbook, she ripped it out, crumpled it up in her hands, and threw it in the wastebasket, where it belonged. She had a birthday party to get ready for, a happy celebration to enjoy with her beautiful family. She’d made up her mind a long time ago that painful memories were not going to steal the wonderful parts of life away from her, or stain them in any way. And that was a promise she intended to keep, not only for her own sake but also in remembrance of Rosemary—who wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“More than anything, she longed to escape into sleep, to turn off her mind and disappear into oblivion. Figuring out what to do next could wait until morning. But her mind had other ideas.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“A black terror grew inside Sage’s chest, choking her, closing her throat. The rumors were true. This was no school. It was a nightmare, a dumping ground for the broken and insane and unwanted. No wonder the people in charge never allowed parents in the ward. They would have called the police.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“To see her and hold hands, to tell her she loved her no matter what. And how could a mother lock her own daughter away, anyway? Didn’t loving someone mean taking the good with the bad, helping each other through the hard things? A mother, especially, was supposed to love and protect her children to the end of her days.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“Her grief over losing her sister six years ago—the horrible, heavy heartache she could still feel to this day—was not something to joke about. They knew Rosemary’s death was the dividing point of her life. The before and after. It wasn’t a hoax or a plea for attention.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

“Her grief over losing her sister six years ago—the horrible, heavy heartache she could still feel to this day—was not something to joke about. They knew Rosemary’s death was the dividing point of her life. The before and after. It wasn’t a hoax or a plea for attention. To this day, Dawn and Heather still picked on her”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook