【勝手に引用】【いま読んでる本】【家族】
“I was wondering if you ever wish you had a family,” Reynie sputtered. He hadn't meant to speak so directly, but onne he'd begun to ask it, the words just tumbled out.
Mr. Benedict nodded. “Certainly when I was your age I did. But not anymore.”
Reynie wasn't sure whether to be comforted or depressed by this revelation. He'd been wondering how it would feel for him to grow up without relatives. “You...you grew out of it, then? You stopped wanting it?”
“Oh, no, Reynie, you don't grow out of it. It's just that once you acquire a family, you no longer need to wish for one.”
Reynie was caught off guard. “You *have* a family?”
“Absolutely,” Mr. Benedict replyed. “You must remember family is often born of blood, but it doesn't *depend* on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family.”
Reynie had drunk up those words like life-saving medicine.
(pp.256-257, The Mysterious Benedict Society)
　
※主要登場人物全員が孤児（だった）か、あるいは家出したこどもたち。