How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"And I said, 'Yes, yes, all right, I know who you are, you're Dustfinger—I even know your name, you see.' At which he cowered in awe before me—a magician, he thought, who seemed to know all about him and who had plucked him out of his world as easily as picking an apple off a tree." (16.16)
Mo's account of bringing Dustfinger over to our world is an interesting one. Wouldn't you consider it magical if someone plucked you out of your reality like scooping up a lab rat from a cage? How else would you explain it? Especially if, like in Mo's case, this person seemed to know all about you.
Quote #2
"To think of all the times I've wished I could slip into one of my favorite books. But that's the advantage of reading—you can shut the book whenever you want." (16.49)
Elinor is a book-lover extraordinaire, but even she doesn't know if she'd actually want to live inside one of the books she likes once she learns that such a thing is possible. For one thing, it'd be hard to adjust to a new world, and for another, it might be irreversible. Thanks, weird-book-magic, for making us consider things that we normally think of as impossible.
Quote #3
I'd like to bring them out of books, touch them, all those characters, all those wonderful characters. I want them to come out of the pages and side beside me, I want them to smile at me, I want, I want, I want… (19.109)
When Meggie hears her father read out loud for the first time (that she can remember), she's blown away by how amazing it is. And as we see here in her thoughts, she wants the same ability for herself. It's normal to witness something awesome and want to do it yourself, but it sounds like her wish—as it's expressed here—is a tad on the selfish side. Once her wish comes true later in the story (due to magic… or genetics… or something else), she learns what a burden it can be.