What are your

Chatterbox: Blab About Books

Favorite First Sentences
What are your...

What are your favorite first sentences? They do this in the Cricket mag sometimes, and I'm curious as to which are yours.

My favorite's got to be from Tale of Two Cities by Dickens:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." 

My runner-up is from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak:

"Here is a small fact: You are going to die."

submitted by Hex, age aeons, in darkness for a spell
(January 16, 2023 - 6:07 pm)

back to the Blab about Books

not necessarily my favorite -- I couldn't possibly choose a favorite -- but I quite like

"Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream." 

-Cannery Row, John Steinbeck

(the whole opening paragraph is great, actually -- I love the descriptions)  

(and I love the Nevermoor one that Jay posted :D)  

submitted by pangolin, age she | they, Outskirts of the Galaxy
(March 3, 2023 - 8:47 pm)
"The giant woke beneath Old-Oak, wild hair and branches mingling, the ground beneath his bottom crisp with autumn leaves." - The Legend of the Dream Giants by Dustin Hansen. A MUST- READ!!
"Nearly everyone at Merrytrails Orphanage for Girls agreed: Abraxas was not a good cat." - The Lock- Eater by Zack Loran Clark
But my most favorite one has got to be:
"There were big days and there were small days and there were bad days and there were good days and I supposed I could pick any of 'em for my 'once upon a time.'"- The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart. I strongly reccommend this book!
Also Hex, the first sentence of The Book Thief is pretty great too!
- The Elephant Spirit :) 
submitted by The Elephant Spirit, age 149 moons, The top of a tree
(May 25, 2023 - 5:49 pm)
submitted by top
(July 22, 2023 - 1:32 pm)
submitted by Topethyst
(July 22, 2023 - 7:33 pm)

"Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day."

-The lost hero, Rock Riordan 

submitted by Hawkstar
(July 24, 2023 - 2:17 pm)

My favorite has gotta be:

The story so far: In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.

-The Restaurant At the End of the Universe 

submitted by Lord of the shadows
(July 27, 2023 - 4:45 pm)
submitted by top
(January 24, 2024 - 8:12 pm)
submitted by top
(April 3, 2024 - 11:10 pm)

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit." - The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

submitted by Moon Wolf, age lunars, A Celestial Sky
(April 3, 2024 - 11:15 pm)

Twilight breaking dawn-

Life sucks and then you die. 

Yeah, I should be so lucky 

submitted by KatanaLuna, age *immortal*
(May 12, 2024 - 7:36 am)

for the sake of the sake--

classic:  Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. (from what, i'm sure you know. if you don't then i am fearful for humanity and please go read a book)

classic-er: when mr. bilbo baggins of bag end announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton. (from lotr <3)

classic-er-er: see Hex's line 

not classic but I love it: ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity, baripity—Good. (from bridge to terabithia by katherine paterson)

 

submitted by eclipse
(May 14, 2024 - 1:14 am)

That book was soooo sad! :(

submitted by KatanaLuna, age immortal
(May 14, 2024 - 11:46 am)

"Look,I didn't want to be a half-blood.If you're reading this because you think you might be one,my advice is:close this book right now.Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth,and try to lead a normal life.Being a half-blood is dangerous,it's scary.Most of the time it gets you killed in painful,nasty ways."-Percy Jackson and the lightning thief

okay,so that was way more than one sentence but I think that that whole first page is just amazing,and you should read these books. 

submitted by Cocoa cat, age At, Camp half-blood
(May 14, 2024 - 4:02 pm)

:DDD

 

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood

I didn't want to be a her-o seeking praise

Being a half-blood? It's scary,

It mostly gets you killed in very nasty waysss

I didn't wanna cause trouble (trouble)

I'm a less a player and more the played

And honestly I'd totally be fine if I could make it to the next grade, next grade...

submitted by CelineBurning Bright, Spouting lyrics :D
(May 14, 2024 - 5:34 pm)

OMG!!I LOVE the musical!!!!!

The gods are real..like the Greek gods.like the ones you learned about,but weren't paying attention to.well they don't pay attention to you,either.especially If you're their kid.the gods have godly things to do.godly places they need to see.godly plans they need to make,that don't include...me.

It's just sooooooo good!!! 

submitted by Cocoa cat @CBB
(May 15, 2024 - 4:11 pm)
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