Quotes from Dr. Franklin's Island

Ann Halam ·  272 pages

Rating: (2K votes)


“The plane blew up.”
“I wonder what happened to all the other people?”
As soon as I’d spoken, I wished I hadn’t said that. I decided shy people shouldn’t try to make conversation, not even in an emergency. If I manage to talk to strangers at all, nervousness always makes me say the wrong thing.”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island


“But I suppose I’m a typical nerd, good at the details, not very smart at seeing the larger picture. I’d gone in for the competition because I liked my science teacher, and it had been like doing any interesting piece of homework. I had not thought it through. I had never sat myself down and said to myself, hold on, Semirah, what if you win? You are shy. How are you going to survive for three weeks surrounded by total strangers?”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island


“I walked all the way around the zoo, and then came back to a girl with a round face and fluffy hair, who looked like a baby owl. I like owls. I was about to say hello when along came Very Cool Girl, with her beautiful hair swinging. She smiled at me, and so did the baby owl. But oh no…My throat closed up. I simply could not speak. I can’t talk to strangers! I swerved off, and pretended I’d been headed for a nearby drinks machine.”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island


“I’d given up on the animal identities, so I didn’t try to think of one; but I decided I’d sit down, not next to him but a couple of seats away, to drink my can of Coke. I would try to look casually inviting, and maybe we could strike up a conversation. I sat down, giving a sigh that might have been a sort of noncommittal half-hello. He looked up from the game he was playing on his GameBoy and stared at me, narrow-eyed. His expression said very clearly, I’ve got your number, Unpopular Girl. Stay away from me.
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island


“Good morning,” I said awkwardly.
Being shipwrecked doesn’t make shyness any easier.”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island



“We came across a rucksack, wedged in among the coral. It was fastened up, but it seemed to have been invaded by some weird fluffy white sea creature that was trying to get out.
“What’s that?” said Arnie, poking it.
Miranda and I took a second look, and started to giggle. “It’s tampons,” I said. “Expanding widthways when wet—”
“Yecch!”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island


About the author

Popular quotes

“The Highlander exhaled sharply, running his hands through his red hair. “I trusted him. I liked him. I don’t understand.”
She shook her head. “People are capable of terrible things. We think we know them, but we really don’t. We let ourselves be deceived because we are always expecting the best out of those who seem willing to provide it.”
“He was always so respectful when talking about you. ‘My mistress.’ He called you that constantly. He helped me with my training; he seemed to want to make things easier for me. But all along he was thinking of ways to help Arcannen. Even if it meant I got hurt. Or killed. Chrys, too. He knew what he was doing. He had to. How could he live with himself?”
“He would have explained everything away, given the chance to do so—telling himself and all of us it was necessary or unavoidable. He would have been able to provide reasons for all of it. A basket full of justifications. Sebec had so much potential; he could have done everything he said he wanted to do without giving in to Arcannen. But he didn’t see it. He believed there was only one choice—to use us, to betray the Druid order, to embrace the roles of traitor and spy.”
― Terry Brooks, quote from The High Druid's Blade


“Ала кажете ми, щом като един човешки живот не е ценен, кое е ценното тогава?
- Нищо - отговорих аз и знаех, че беше истина и все пак не беше. - Само ние го правим ценен.”
― Erich Maria Remarque, quote from The Night in Lisbon


“Я больше, чем сумма моих составляющих.”
― China Miéville, quote from King Rat


“Our visual field, the entire view of what we can see when we look out into the world, is divided into billions of tiny spots or pixels. Each pixel is filled with atoms and molecules that are in vibration. The retinal cells in the back of our eyes detect the movement of those atomic particles. Atoms vibrating at different frequencies emit different wavelengths of energy, and this information is eventually coded as different colors by the visual cortex in the occipital region of our brain. A visual image is built by our brain's ability to package groups of pixels together in the form of edges. Different edges with different orientations - vertical, horizontal and oblique, combine to form complex images. Different groups of cells in our brain add depth, color and motion to what we see.”
― Jill Bolte Taylor, quote from My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey


“The discovery of a corpse's head on campus has worked as an expedient in getting the administrative staff to work before ten, despite the impending blizzard.”
― Meg Cabot, quote from Size 14 Is Not Fat Either


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