With all its ups and downs, 2023 was a great year for books. The reviews editors are taking one last look back at the year by sharing a few "favorites" roundups.

Here, the editors list their favorite Best Books quotations of 2023.

Jasmine Amiri, Editor, Graphic Novels
“Maybe he glimpsed the future, just like I have right now.
I see the man my boy will become. I wanted to create a world for him where he’d never have to
carry a four-hundred-year-old burden.
Maybe Dad sought to spare me from it.
My dad didn’t have that power, and neither do I.
My son’s world is his to create.
All I can do is prepare him.”―Darrin Bell, The Talk 

Shelley Diaz, Reviews Editor
“But is it so hard to believe that one girl’s conviction could change the course of things? Is it so unfathomable that some men should listen, that love could change the course?”―Joy McCullough, Enter the Body 

Kimberly Olson Fakih, Senior Editor, Picture Books
“I’m from notebooks,/ stubby pencils,/ drawing my own heroes,/ writing my own stories.// From ‘Honey, whatchu want?’/ Caramel candy squares,/ butterscotch buttons,/ Tootsie Rolls.”―Gary R. Gray, Jr., I’m From, illus. by Oge Mora 

Amanda Mastrull, Editor, YA & Audiobooks
"But memories are like leaves. They fade, fall, and scatter beneath the slightest sigh of wind. So for now, think of ways to press them between wax paper and preserve them for one quiet day in the future. And on that day, as you retrieve your memories, may you rediscover and celebrate the glorious combination of details that not only make you beautiful, but also make you uniquely YOU."—Ruta Sepetys, You: The Story: A Writer's Guide to Craft Through Memory  

Florence Simmons, Associate Editor, Transitional Books, Holidays & Poetry
“It's a shift from a spiraling I hope I'm doing this right to the ache of I hope.”―Becky Albertalli, Imogen, Obviously  

Ashleigh Williams, Associate Editor, Chapter Books & Middle Grade
“Mami’s eyes fill with water
and she hugs me tight,
tight,
tight.
The warmth of her arms,
is the greatest treasure
I could ever receive.”―Jasminne Mendez, Aniana Del Mar Jumps In