The Queens of New York Quotes

“I inhale with the waves flooding the shore. They are easy. They are mine. I can feel my heartbeat slowing. Bea may be in Queens underground, but for now, she is here. We are little girls again, on this shore together. Just for a moment.”
― E.L. Shen, The Queens of New York

“There are three parts to every perfect dumpling: the skin, the meat, and the water. Ariel is the skin—the delicate foundation that can make something beautiful out of nothing. Everett is the meat—tough, juicy, and packed with spice. And me? I guess I’m the water, the one keeping us all together.”
― E.L. Shen, The Queens of New York

“I am forgetting my future, little by little.”
― E.L. Shen, The Queens of New York

“When you’re terrified of something, your amygdala pretends it’s a bomb intent on total destruction. But if you look closer, it’s just a cloud.”
― E.L. Shen, The Queens of New York

“Once you've bowed your head and burned the incense, the grief locks inside the coffin, shrouded underneath new grass and fertile soil. But I don't think Ariel has any grass at all.”
― E.L. Shen, The Queens of New York

“When I got my official acceptance letter in the mail, Umma immediately pinned it to the fridge. She took down my old tests to make room. This letter deserved the entire metal canvas. It was the culmination of all my hard work, all my high school accomplishments. It was the thing I had desperately wanted so many moons ago. Now I don't even know why I'm here.”
― E.L. Shen, The Queens of New York

“Freudian slips happen to the breast of us”
― E.L. Shen, The Queens of New York