Lovin' the First Line

Christopher Paolini
"Die puny human!"

I recently saw Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon. He was able to determine his favorite line from all four books of his series, "Die puny human." That got me thinking about great lines from books. After looking at the cover of a book, the next thing that grab's my attention is the first line. Here are some of the best first lines from books:

• “I’ve confessed to everything and I’d like to be hanged. Now, if you please.” Chime by Franny Billingsley
• "I remember lying in the snow, a small red spot of warm going cold, surrounded by wolves." Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• "My father died saving my life when I was seven years old." and "It all started with a party." The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
• "Things had been getting a little better until I got a letter from my dead sister. That more or less ruined my day." Dead Girls Don't Write Letters by Gail Giles
• “Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty.” True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
• “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” Feed by M.T. Anderson
• "The Early summer sky was the color of cat vomit." Uglies by Scott Westerfield.
• “First he hit her, then he stabbed her with a small knife, but Lark didn’t die from this. She died from the cold.” Lark by Tracey Porter
• "One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone. There. Gone. No 'poof.' No flash of light. No explosion." Gone by Michael Grant
• "I have been accused of being anal retentive, an over-achiever, and a compulsive perfectionist, like those are bad things." Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee
• "If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it." The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck



"They took me in my nightgown."
Shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys

• "The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World." Going Bovine by Libby Bray
• "The first thing you find out when your dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say. About anyting." The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
• "Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse, I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker." Marked by P.C. Cast
• "When the doorbell rings at 3 in the morning, it's never good news." Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

What is your favorite first line from a book?