Wisdom, Proverbs, and Aphorisms from Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, 2017

To pass safely through a jungle, one must walk either with stealth or with confidence. ~A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge.

Change is necessary and, deny it as we may, in the end change is always inevitable. ~A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge.

Wants and wishes cannot erase choices. Sometimes a road forks, and both paths lead to pain. The Song of Glory and Ghost by N.D. Wilson.

A leader doesn’t lead by proving how great he is—he leads by making the people around him great. ~Mysteries of Cove: Embers of Destruction by J. Scott Savage.

The real purpose of life [is] to live—to find out about the world and have adventures. ~The Matchstick Castle by Keir Graff.

Making others feel safe is a fine way to spend your days. ~Wishtree by Katherine Applegate.

Knowledge is a vessel deeper than the sea. A fool splashes in a pond and thinks he has the answers, but a wise man knows the only way to reach its depths is to ask questions. ~Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eager.

Once you’re up on a pedestal, you can’t take a step in any direction without falling. ~Miss Ellicott’s School for the Magically Minded by Sage Blackwood.

Surely it is counterproductive to expect sense from someone you are beating senseless. ~Thick as Thieves by Meg Whalen Turner.

Sometimes the way you get out of trouble is the same way you got in. ~The Tiny Hero of Ferny Creek Library by Linda Bailey.

Everyone deserves dessert. ~Zinnia and the Bees by Danielle Davis.

Doubtful friends are worse than enemies, and fire ants are the worst of all. ~The Danger Gang and the Pirates of Borneo by Stephen Bramucci.

The more people you care about, the more there is to scare you in the world. And yet, if you didn’t care about people, there would be nothing worth protecting. ~The Danger Gang and the Pirates of Borneo by Stephen Bramucci.

He who endures will conquer. So will he who never gets stung by a blister beetle. ~The Danger Gang and the Pirates of Borneo by Stephen Bramucci.

When your heart is beating too quick with nerves, there’s nothing like the rhythm of a poem to bring it right again. When you fill your mind with words—beautiful words, stirring words—those words drive away your other worries. ~Elizabeth and Zenobia by Jessica Miller.

History doesn’t judge leaders on how many times they fall. It judges them on how many times they get up. ~Mysteries of Cove: Embers of Destruction by J. Scott Savage.

. . . some secrets don’t like to be kept. They grow feet and tiptoe away in the night. ~Skeleton Tree by Kim Ventrella.

I’m working on a list of favorite aphorisms from 2018’s crop of middle grade speculative fiction. Do you have any to add?

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