"Itchingham Lofte had caused explosions before. There had, in truth, been many bangs, flashes, and smells coming from …"

"…everyone called him Itch except his mother, whose bright idea it had been to name him Itchingham in the first place."

"There should be a law against parents using sarcasm, thought Itch."

"The school had been designated a "Science Academy" and attracted many sponsors: charities, eminent scientists, and a …"

"But the only person who was ever pleased to see him was Jack. She realized that Itch was a little different, but she …"

"He turned and smiled at his class. "Morning boys, let's begin." His homeroom class had given up pointing out that the…"

"Ms. Glenacre was, it seemed, approaching her hundredth birthday and had never had a nice thought about anybody in her…"

"Grace Glenacre forgot that she had been sick. Now she was furious. "How dare you? How dare you?!" she shouted. "I don…"

"Itch thought that Jay seemed to spend all of her time either eating her potato chips or picking her nose. Today she w…"

"I'm sure 'I used it all, just to be on the safe side' is not the greatest piece of scientific advice out there!"