""Isn't life," she stammered, "isn't life --" But what life was she couldn't explain. No matter. He quite understood.
"Isn't it, darling?" said Laurie"

"Those stories -- myth, archetype, religious narrative, the great body of literature -- are always with us. Always in us."

"We are all complete beings. We have many different qualities that don't always fit together very smoothly. More important, we're all capable of growth, development, and change. We can get better... To put this another way, we are all, each and every one of us, the protagonist of our own story."

"One little soldier boy left all alone;
He went and hanged himself

And then there were None."
-- Frank Green, 1869

Derek Landy couldn't have done better. The joy, the pain, the loss, the tears.