All teenagers knew this was true. The process of growing up was nothing more than figuring out what doors hadn't yet been slammed in your face. For year's her own parents had told her that she could be anything, have anything, do anything. That was why she'd been so eager to grow up -until she got to adolescence and hit a big, fat wall of reality. As it turned out, she couldn't have anything she wanted. You didn't get to be pretty or smart or popular just because you wanted it. You didn't control your own destiny; you were too busy trying to fit in.
- Jodi Picoult, The Tenth Circle