Quotes from The Year of Secret Assignments

Jaclyn Moriarty ·  340 pages

Rating: (18.1K votes)


“I'm screwed up, mixed up, messed around, dive-bombing, crashing and burning.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“I saw your name in lights last night.
It's the middle of the night,
and I can't sleep,
thinking all my trumpeting thoughts,
and I get out of bed,
open the curtains,
and look into the night full of stars,
and you know what I saw?
Your name.
Like the stars joined up and spelled the word for me.
Like a sign.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“It's a lot easier to be crazy or mad than to just get on with living.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“Emily: YOU CAN'T SPEAK AND TYPE AT THE SAME TIME, BINDY!

Bindy: Watch me.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“Well, first you have to be very, very funny. I have realized that it is essential for a boy to be funny. Otherwise, what is the point in a boy?”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments



“Are you sure you want me to go after Christina? Lately I've kind of thought I might just give up on that. Plus, didn't you and I need to gaze into each other's eyes first? How will I know how to gaze at Christina? And my pebble kicking? Disaster.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“I was just peeling some potatoes for dinner and they all looked like crisp white potatoes until I cut them in half. Every single one had a rotten, gray core. [. . .] I feel like the whole world is black, rotting, and evil. Even when it looks crisp on the outside, that's a lie, because you can't trust anything - on the inside it's nothing like mold. [. . .] So, see, nothing good is ever going to happen, and anyone who says it is, is lying to you.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“My father, I never knew, except for this one time when he threw a ball and told me to go fetch it.

"Dad," I said. "Am I a dog?"

"Lydia," he said. "I apologize.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“You're making me nervous by being so weird.
But your weirdness is what I like about you.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“THERE IS A GAS LEAK IN THE BASEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. THERE IS NO NEED TO PANIC. IT IS JUST A GAS LEAK WHICH MAY LEAD TO AN EXPLOSION AT ANY MOMENT. PLEASE ALL GO TO THE OVAL, AS PER THE FIRE DRILLS.

-Charlie on the P.A.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments



“I've been sniffing out the guys in my English class (to the extent that this is possible without getting my throat cut), but they smell the same way they always do: like feet and testicles. As opposed to freesias.

I don't want to keep sniffing them, Lyd.

- Letter from Seb to Lyd.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“My mind is like the streets of Hong Kong.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“Brookfield High School. How may I direct your call? No, sir, this is not a waste- disposal unit, I'm afraid you have the wrong number.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“...Her parents were going to a conference for the weekend. The conference was called "Lawyers are Lovely, Great and Superb: so Why Does Everyone Think that They are Liars, Greedy and Scum?" and Mr Thomson was doing a speech called "Ten Tips to Make Lawyers as Popular as Doctors.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“P.S. I will give you a clue about the person I'm interested in. She gets a very cute dimple in her right cheek when she's trying not to smile. She has a very cute way of pronouncing th, and she wears a cute hat on cold days, which is like a French beret. I once had an appointment with her to Gaze into the Girl's Eyes, which she went and cancelled on me, and I've been waiting all term for a chance to Kiss the Girl.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments



“I am grateful to you for the rest of my life. And when I say "you," I mean every part of you, including your mind and your smile and your giggle and the mad look you get in your eyes sometimes. If you don't believe that your words have got into my soul, take a look at the painting which I took to the art show (it's called The Puppy and the Pyramid, which is what you might call a clue). But if I don't get to kiss you fairly soon, Lyd, I won't have a soul left to speak of.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


“There is no right or wrong; there is no one truth, there are lots of truths. And you girls should translate the world into as many different languages as possible. If you see the world in just one language, your world becomes too small.”
― Jaclyn Moriarty, quote from The Year of Secret Assignments


About the author

Jaclyn Moriarty
Born place: Perth, Australia
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