Globalization 3.0 is shrinking the world from a size small to a size tiny and flattening the playing field at the same time. The World Is Flat 2005-04-05T00:00:00Z

The fact that there are now women playing for symphony orchestras is not a trivial change. Blink 2005-01-11T00:00:00Z

And at the same time, she hasn’t stormed out, she hasn’t maintained that it’s just a sick joke someone is playing on her. Every Day 2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

The Weird Sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more, and Harry let go of Parvati at once. Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire 2000-07-08T00:00:00Z

Meanwhile the nereid swam from the lap of Ocean laden with four sealskins, new flaved for the hoax she thought of playing on her father. The Odyssey 1961-01-01T00:00:00Z

When she saw that we Firebirds would be playing in the state tournament, she decided to come to the game. Fast Pitch 2021-08-31T00:00:00Z

So was the piano playing from the room right next to the kitchen. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

I remember older kids playing with tennis balls and skipping ropes. Ugly 2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

The music playing makes me feel mad for no reason, and a frown inches across my face. Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero 2020-08-18T00:00:00Z

She found boys playing pitch games with his face. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1943-01-01T00:00:00Z

But if Mother was up we always began by playing on the porch until she said we were making too much noise, then we went out and played under the wistaria frame. The Sound and the Fury 1929-01-01T00:00:00Z

There were two little reddish blond kids playing in her yard, even though it was kind of cold. Eleanor & Park 2013-02-26T00:00:00Z

“You have to buy tickets for Shoot the Moon, but Flush will be playing, too.” Book Scavenger 2015-06-02T00:00:00Z

He could remember lying on the floor—playing with his red toy car again, maybe. The Strangers 2019-04-02T00:00:00Z

In the playing hall itself, decorum and quiet reigned. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

I let the words mix with the night breeze, Weaves playing off my balcony into the darkness. Sparrow 2017-10-10T00:00:00Z

Some boy shot a cop and had a ’Pac song playing in the car. On the Come Up 2019-02-05T00:00:00Z

He gets beat every time while playing defense. Boy21 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Inside were two playing cards, an ace and a joker. Unbroken 2010-11-16T00:00:00Z

“People were playing Tanzanian music and dancing, and one businessman came and ordered chicken and beer for everybody,” she said. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

In its “theatorium” they listened to an orchestra playing at that very moment in New York. The Devil in the White City 2003-02-11T00:00:00Z

Was she so desperate to fit in with the Aberzombies that she was ignoring the fact that Evan was playing her? When Dimple Met Rishi 2017-05-30T00:00:00Z

Roza and I have just finished playing for a wedding here in the concert hall. What the Night Sings 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

He slapped his fingers against his waist, playing an imaginary instrument. George 2015-08-25T00:00:00Z

She’s probably filing her nails or playing tic-tac-toe against herself as she talks to me. They Both Die at the End 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

“But that doesn’t really have anything to do with playing with the other kids. Why can’t you play, then go home and be Bengali?” Lucky Broken Girl 2017-04-11T00:00:00Z

One day when Orithyia was playing with her sisters on the bank of a river, Boreas swept down in a great gust and carried her away. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes 1942-01-01T00:00:00Z

I concentrate on the notes, imagining myself playing, feeling grateful for this chance to practice, happy to be in a warm car with my sonata and my family. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

“The gods are playing tricks on us. How could they be so cruel and still make the sky so lovely?” First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

We end up playing tennis in the street, like we did when I first moved here, and afterward we walk up to the Dairy Queen and order Blizzards. All The Bright Places 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

They were fighting for pink slips on role playing characters. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

I joined a soul band, Black Ice, on the other side of town, playing any instrument I could round up—sax, flute, and bass, all borrowed. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

Their daemons were playing fiercely; the snow leopard rolled over on her back, and the monkey raked his claws in the soft fur other neck, and she growled a deep rumble of pleasure. The Golden Compass 1995-07-01T00:00:00Z

They were “smart” because they could do so many things beyond calling, like texting, emailing, surfing the Internet, playing games. A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age 2014-09-23T00:00:00Z

The global competitive playing field was being leveled. The World Is Flat 2005-04-05T00:00:00Z

The band starts up again, this time playing “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Water for Elephants 2006-05-26T00:00:00Z

Rabscuttle was full of tricks and games and quite soon he was running and playing just as if he had been one of the children himself. Watership Down: A Novel 1972-01-01T00:00:00Z

I first noticed my problem when I was playing handball. Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story 1976-01-01T00:00:00Z

It was like playing chess and making a bad move and not knowing why but knowing instinctively that it was a bad move. The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War 1974-01-01T00:00:00Z

For all his friendly talk, she thought he’d prefer to be home by himself, playing concerts in empty rooms. The Underground Railroad: A Novel 2016-08-02T00:00:00Z

As my mother and I walked together, I could imagine my gentile friends nearby, still going to school, still playing the streetcar game, but I did not lift my eyes even for a quick peek. The Boy on the Wooden Box 2013-08-27T00:00:00Z

“Calling it a ‘group’ makes us sound like old ladies playing cards,” Rafi says smoothly. Allegiant 2013-10-22T00:00:00Z

So it was nice hanging out with her, laughing and playing. Wonder 2012-02-14T00:00:00Z

I spent a weekend visiting Craig at Princeton, where he seemed to have slipped into a productive rhythm of playing basketball, taking classes, and hanging out at a campus center designed for minority students. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

There was a country music song playing on the radio. Raymie Nightingale 2016-04-12T00:00:00Z

Now they were sauntering about, doing chores, teasing cats, throwing bread to stray chickens, and some of them were playing their endless round games. Song of Solomon 1977-01-01T00:00:00Z

He paused, hesitating, his hand moving from the book and playing now with an earlock. The Chosen 1967-04-28T00:00:00Z

“Little Avik...He was playing by the window. He fell and he died.” Lucky Broken Girl 2017-04-11T00:00:00Z

“Those who knew any thing about it, must have felt the difference. The truth is, Harriet, that my playing is just good enough to be praised, but Jane Fairfax’s is much beyond it.” Emma 1815-12-23T00:00:00Z

I picture Tom and James in their rec room, playing video games, not having any sense that their week was disrupted. Every Day 2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

I was playing several small roles, my most dramatic being that of a soldier who dies a bloody death in one of the battle scenes. The Shakespeare Stealer 1998-05-01T00:00:00Z

I don’t see Ashley or Shelby anywhere, but fifteen or twenty guys are sprawled on the floor playing a drinking game. All The Bright Places 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

But Luma also had a new ball, and the one the boys were playing with was scuffed and ragged. Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

We heard the piano start up in the parlor, a limpid, haunting melody; Harry had been pressed into playing for our visitors. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate 2009-05-12T00:00:00Z

I don’t want a stay late just cause Miss Leefolt playing cards. The Help 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z

"You like playing with explosives, kid?" the bomb squad detective asked. The Westing Game 1979-01-01T00:00:00Z

The auditorium was so silent that they could hear Bo's kittens playing around in the dark. The Thief Lord 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z

We had been aces for so long, had been playing ball and running the streets for so long that we knew each other’s moves. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

All day they could have fun with him for nothing and go around playing and watching him tip his hat. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1943-01-01T00:00:00Z

General Earle Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, knew the president was playing a dangerous game. Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War 2015-09-22T00:00:00Z

In short, scientists say that nothing we do as humans uses more parts of our brain and is more complex than playing an instrument. Music and the Child 2016-06-14T00:00:00Z

First years were playing conkers in the queue for the Black Swan Green bus. Black Swan Green 2006-04-10T00:00:00Z

A little girl who liked playing hide-and-seek and studying science. Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World 2013-10-08T00:00:00Z

Kids of all ages still ran around playing in yards and riding bikes on the street. One Crazy Summer 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

The massacre came up only briefly, when I was playing in the yard with the youngest daughter, who was around two years younger than me. How Dare the Sun Rise 2017-05-16T00:00:00Z

I looked around and saw Lynn playing with some kids closer to her age. Kira-Kira 2004-02-01T00:00:00Z

Abu subscribed to the belief that playing sports would give us a competitive edge, making us winners on the field and in life. Proud 2018-07-24T00:00:00Z

Then, if he did hook something, there was no such thing as playing it. The Milagro Beanfield War 1974-01-01T00:00:00Z

We were playing the schoolyard game of brandy—tag with a tennis ball. Ugly 2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

The kids jump-frogged ahead of us, playing some kind of complicated game of tag. Hattie Big Sky 2006-09-26T00:00:00Z

We spent the morning hanging out in Erlan’s quilt fort, playing board games. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

Maybe he was playing with fire, being here now—watching the kids who walked through the front door thinking that everything would be okay if they just tried their hardest. Time Bomb 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

“Oh, one more thing. May I see that wonderful CD you’re playing?” Out of My Mind 2010-03-09T00:00:00Z

What was needed was a revolution, a reversal of the ancient, brittle roles we’d been playing out since my childhood. Educated 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

She had worked often at the Childcare Center, and had enjoyed the time playing educational games with the toddlers and young children, but infants—they were called newchildren—had never interested her. Son 2012-10-02T00:00:00Z

He barely registered the change when they turned off the TV and started playing pool. An Abundance of Katherines 2006-09-21T00:00:00Z

Spassky, playing white, made his first move and Fischer replied. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

She just kept playing hopscotch, as if no one else was there. Wringer 1997-08-16T00:00:00Z

The tape clicks itself over and continues playing. Thirteen Reasons Why 2007-10-18T00:00:00Z

They were playing peregrine falcon games she had never learned. Frightful's Mountain 2001-05-21T00:00:00Z

She stopped playing with her bracelets as she frowned at the rain pounding the windows. Throne of Glass 2012-08-07T00:00:00Z

Ahead was a gang playing stoop ball, blocking her way. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson 1984-10-12T00:00:00Z

At least Red was playing in the game, so I didn’t have to sit next to him. The Lions of Little Rock 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

I am certain—I mean, I just know—that all these different species are playing together, calling around one another’s noises. The Thing About Jellyfish 2015-09-22T00:00:00Z

The great game, Locke had called it when he accused me of playing it. The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

In a room off the bar there was a good jazz band playing. The Sun Also Rises 1926-10-22T00:00:00Z

Florah couldn’t bear the agony of seeing her friends all dressed up, playing and eating, and she burst into tears. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

Once, in Yana Urku, when I was about five years old, my sister Matilde was playing with her friend in the green canyon as I tagged along. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

I realize that dealing with Shay every day is like playing chess. Fish in a Tree 2015-02-05T00:00:00Z

The real-live broadcast and not a simulation with actors playing the parts of the astronauts. Gone Crazy in Alabama 2015-04-21T00:00:00Z

While the theoretical clone-drone continues, I amuse myself by playing: How Would You Rather Die? I'll Give You the Sun 2014-09-16T00:00:00Z

“It’s poor Miss Annie next door. This morning she took a little fainting spell in the alley. Nerves, babe. She says you woke her up this morning playing on your banjo.” A Confederacy of Dunces 1980-01-01T00:00:00Z

But these new Olympic Games were going to be about serious library topics, and Kyle would be playing against some serious library whiz kids. Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics 2016-01-05T00:00:00Z

Motor Boat and Tea Cake were still playing so everybody left them at it. Their Eyes Were Watching God 1937-09-18T00:00:00Z

Still, I’m glad Finnick keeps playing the pregnancy card for me, because from a sponsor’s point of view, I’m not handling things all that well. Catching Fire 2009-09-01T00:00:00Z

Through the window over the sink she could see the deweys still playing chain gang; their ankles bound one to the other, they tumbled, struggled back to their feet and tried to walk single file. Sula 1973-11-01T00:00:00Z

Henry has got some of Esme’s island music playing and uses his root beer bottle as a microphone to sing to us while he cooks. Shouting at the Rain 2019-05-07T00:00:00Z

My brother and I splashed in the water, playing, laughing, trying our utmost to fling suds into each other’s eyes. Black Boy 1945-01-01T00:00:00Z

It took us an entire week, often playing over sixteen hours a day, before we were finally able to clear all thirty-nine levels and complete the quest. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

“You have to stop playing. I’m here to work with Ms. Fender on my solo.” Maybe He Just Likes You 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z

Though she was a member of Farmville’s Beulah AME Church, it was the First Baptist Church that enjoyed her esteemed piano playing come Sunday morning, because they had hired her as their pianist. Hidden Figures 2016-09-06T00:00:00Z

And I never missed my musician friends wherever they were playing, either in Harlem, downtown at the big theaters, or on 52nd Street. The Autobiography of Malcolm X 1965-01-01T00:00:00Z

There are plush chairs like the kind you find at a movie theater, and a muted soundtrack playing some New Agey—type music. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Physiologists, in fact, have calculated that rowing a two-thousand-meter race—the Olympic standard—takes the same physiological toll as playing two basketball games back-to-back. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics 2014-05-27T00:00:00Z

Attracted by the playing, Gregor had ventured to advance a little further forward and his head was already in the living room. The Metamorphosis 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z

“Hey, I didn’t say I was going to play for them. I’m playing for the War Eagles next year.” Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

My parents seem to be playing their own kind of Secret Santa game. Before We Were Free 2002-08-13T00:00:00Z

By the time we rolled into the parking lot, we were two happy little girls, the beat still playing in our heads. Courage to Soar 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

Finally, I scolded him, “You’re not Sir Laurence Olivier playing Hamlet, you know. All I want are the facts and how you felt. Not a theatrical production.” From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler 1967-01-01T00:00:00Z

Panpipe music is playing lightly from the speakers, and reporters and photographers are snapping photos and talking to the more-famous guests—senators and city council members. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

Tried to listen to the Qawali music playing on the transistor radio at the next table. The Kite Runner 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

As I’m digging around inside, I remember Charlie playing with my cards last night. Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero 2020-08-18T00:00:00Z

After the first two or three hours she figured out some sets of chords in the bass that would fit in with the main tune her right hand was playing. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 1940-07-29T00:00:00Z

Baby was playing with Adanna and he could take the shortcut and be back before she even noticed he was gone. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

I said to lighten his mood and curtsied, playing the shepherdess. Ophelia 2006-10-31T00:00:00Z

But Rocket seemed to think Finn was playing, too, and batted his paw at Finn instead. The Strangers 2019-04-02T00:00:00Z

He looked like a boy playing tops who has just won everybody’s tobacco tags. Cold Sassy Tree 1984-11-02T00:00:00Z

Most of the Institute students spent the hour before supper playing in the gym, or else watching television in their rooms, but the Mysterious Benedict Society had wanted a little time to themselves. The Mysterious Benedict Society 2008-04-01T00:00:00Z

And then I plan to follow Erin wherever she ends up playing basketball. Boy21 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I don’t want you messing around over there. Them old trees aren’t for playing on. You liable to hurt yourself.” Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky 2019-10-15T00:00:00Z

Her team was playing better now than at any point in the season, but she was worried about their shooting. Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

He looked intrigued, but at the same time he kind of knew I was playing a joke on him. Winger 2013-05-14T00:00:00Z

She would take him to the park and watch the other boys playing with their fathers, and she began to wonder if she was being selfish. Zeitoun 2009-07-15T00:00:00Z

“Hush, Walter. Now look, Tristan, over there ” She started playing tour guide as we drove up to the house, and I settled back, unable to shake the tingling feeling that something weird was going on. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky 2019-10-15T00:00:00Z

He’d show up at my house or I’d go up to his and we’d be off to the mountains, playing cowboys or spacemen or pirates or whatever we could think up. October Sky 1999-04-01T00:00:00Z

Then Mrs. Popper began playing the pretty, descriptive piece “By the Brook.” Mr. Popper's Penguins 1938-09-01T00:00:00Z

At a picnic table on the lawn outside, four old women, all wearing broad, straw hats, were playing a card game. An Abundance of Katherines 2006-09-21T00:00:00Z

We were playing Armstead Academy, the jewel of the New England private day schools. Here to Stay 2018-09-08T00:00:00Z

Then it was gone again, and I felt myself getting a little angry at whoever was playing with the sunlight. The Chosen 1967-04-28T00:00:00Z

Alice was playing with Lyra, holding her up so her feet touched the ground, pretending to make her walk. The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage 2017-10-19T00:00:00Z

“She would have a fit if she saw me playing soccer with men,” Luma said. Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

I can almost hear the suspenseful music playing, just like in a MacGyver episode right before something explodes. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

Gift number four was a harmonica and a book about playing it. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 1999-02-01T00:00:00Z

Maybe by now you are playing hopscotch again? Lucky Broken Girl 2017-04-11T00:00:00Z

The ward was filled with children who were sick and unable to walk or perform basic activities, like playing with toys. The Freedom Writers Diary 1999-10-12T00:00:00Z

I weaved through groups of kids running and playing in the yard. The Rock and the River 2009-01-06T00:00:00Z

Not all of Fischer’s demands concerned the playing conditions. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

I knew my hectic schedule wasn’t going to last forever, and playing volleyball had its purpose in my plans to get into college just as much as fencing did. Proud 2018-07-24T00:00:00Z

“Especially on your birthday. This day reminds us of how important you are to us. Now, you invite Vince to sit a while. We’ll have a nice evening playing games and all.” Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

At the center of the maze, a piper is playing a lilting, wild song. The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

A little boy playing Tizerkane in an orchard would have loved the feel of them rolling off his tongue. Strange the Dreamer 2017-03-28T00:00:00Z

And while Nehemia might be playing a game that she had no chance of winning, Dorian couldn’t deny that he greatly admired the princess for daring to play in the first place. Throne of Glass 2012-08-07T00:00:00Z

For C.P., it occurred when he was eight years old, playing football in a weedy field with a group of black children who lived just over the railroad tracks. The Best of Enemies 1996-04-01T00:00:00Z

“You’re playing politics. You and Cardan need to be turned out in splendor for this banquet. Your new king will need everything to look right.” The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

So he played more quickly, and more loudly, Lizzie grinning the whole time, until Mrs. Cobb told him that he was playing too quickly and too loudly. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

I remember when I was a little girl, on Sunday afternoons my father and I would sit at the kitchen table playing chess. Z for Zachariah 1976-07-29T00:00:00Z

Afterward, we would have lunch, then busy ourselves playing table tennis or soccer. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier 2007-02-13T00:00:00Z

Turner hated himself for playing the minister’s son. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

My mom thought I was just trying to get out of housework, but then I stopped playing field hockey because bending over the stick became impossible. I Will Always Write Back 2016-05-03T00:00:00Z

I’m sure there were a few club members still dubious about a skinny disabled kid playing, but the first bowl I sent down that day gently nudged the jack. Ugly 2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

As they were playing they began to talk, and they realized they had many things in common and that playing Russian roulette to settle a beef between their gangs was stupid. The Freedom Writers Diary 1999-10-12T00:00:00Z

I went racing out of the room and noticed the band had stopped playing. The Pigman 1968-10-12T00:00:00Z

It was time for Fred to forget about playing a make-believe hero on TV. Dog Squad 2021-05-11T00:00:00Z

I wished desperately for him to be alive, to see how things were playing out. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

“We’re not throwing our tennis shoes around, Dad. We're playing a game. It’s the common man’s version of throwing the javelin. And we’re seeing who can throw his shoe the farthest.” Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe 2012-02-21T00:00:00Z

Some of the gentlemen were gone to the stables: the younger ones, together with the younger ladies, were playing billiards in the billiard-room. Jane Eyre 1847-10-16T00:00:00Z

The children were playing again across the harbor. The Subtle Knife 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

Not because I’d shown up to watch him, but because I had shown up to watch him he was playing harder—and he was loving it. All American Boys 2015-09-29T00:00:00Z

Shady sat among them, playing the harmonica, letting the notes drift around these men like a bedtime song. Moon Over Manifest 2010-10-12T00:00:00Z

We had a comeback but during the whole first part of the game I was playing weak. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

I was used to seeing Dionysus by the fireplace, playing cards and eating grapes and griping at satyrs, but Mr. D was still away. The Battle of the Labyrinth 2008-05-06T00:00:00Z

It’s racy, with the student playing Pippin reclining onstage, his legs splayed, as girls shimmy and slither around him. Drama High 2013-09-26T00:00:00Z

Amil used to spend hours running around the gardens, playing with friends, skipping and hopping to and from school. The Night Diary 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

It was like we were playing musical chairs, with everyone scrambling to get a seat. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

“Number one draft pick? The Phoenix Riders—her team—playing in the first game of the season?” Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

When we were kids, Jamie was always playing with his dad’s camera. Starfish 2017-09-26T00:00:00Z

Even from this far away, Percy could see people gathered in the plaza, shoppers milling around an open-air market, parents with kids playing in the parks. The Son of Neptune 2011-10-04T00:00:00Z

Most teams felt intimidated playing Permian because of all the tradition and its history of winning. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

Me in my mother’s necklace, playing my mother’s guitar. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

It was fun to see them playing or sunning themselves among the kelp. Island of the Blue Dolphins 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

It had been exciting at times when Conrad and I had gone to Miss Lisa’s house with Grandma and ended up playing with her children while Grandma cleaned and cooked a meal. March Forward, Girl 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

He was playing by then in a Biddy Basketball league that had games every weekend and apparently had already tamed his nerves around performing. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

They were in a supermarket, and they were playing a game: they were allowed to put an item in the cart only when no one was looking. The Subtle Knife 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

You will be playing in G, a nice strong key for guitar, but sounding in A flat. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

Mostly I watch the scary movies playing on the inside of my eyelids. Speak 1999-10-01T00:00:00Z

“Then it be human, playing at beast,” Annabella told her in a firm and certain voice. Gathering Blue 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

Still, decisions about crescendos and decrescendos, tempo, and score reading have to be made, but there are endless possibilities for vocalizing and playing these child-centered compositions. Music and the Child 2016-06-14T00:00:00Z

Like I am playing a game, pretending at being something I’m not. The Adoration of Jenna Fox 2008-04-29T00:00:00Z

He waits again for silence, pulls a harmonica from his robe, and begins playing a soulful tune. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

I learned that piece in record time, and soon I was playing it in my sleep. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate 2009-05-12T00:00:00Z

Everyone continued eating and the musicians continued playing without missing a single note, but Esteban Trueba jumped up as if it were an omen. The House of the Spirits: A Novel 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

We used to spend hours playing with our Star Wars action figures and dueling with our lightsabers. Wonder 2012-02-14T00:00:00Z

Four men are sitting on rough burlap feed sacks, playing cards by the light of a kerosene lantern. Water for Elephants 2006-05-26T00:00:00Z

In the kelp otter were playing at the games they never tired of. Island of the Blue Dolphins 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

I was playing with two teddy bears from the Hineses’ toy chest. Three Little Words: A Memoir 2007-12-27T00:00:00Z

I turned back around in my seat and listened to the orderlies talking, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” playing on the radio, and the steady thrum of the car’s engine. Made You Up 2015-05-19T00:00:00Z

We heard gates slamming, music playing, men yelling, and showers running as though B-block were one immense locker room. Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

Through the French windows I saw Squelch playing Twister with two younger kids and a man I guessed was their dad. Black Swan Green 2006-04-10T00:00:00Z

The organ is playing, and sunlight is pouring in through the stained-glass windows. Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

A sound of subterranean flute playing came up and was almost lost in the steady remorseless persistence of the drums. Brave New World 1932-01-01T00:00:00Z

The movie played on and then finished and then ran its credits, went to black screen, clicked off, rewound, started playing automatically again; I kept on gluing. The Miseducation of Cameron Post 2012-02-07T00:00:00Z

My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I’d somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

“I think he and Little Arliss must be playing down about the creek somewhere.” Old Yeller 1956-01-01T00:00:00Z

It did not come, and after playing long enough for even Mrs. Cobb to shush him out, he waited on the back porch. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

Presumably you were reading, playing games on the iPad, choosing clothes. We Were Liars 2014-05-13T00:00:00Z

“Yeah, well,” I said, “I think we’re going to start playing now.” Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

As I stood, I thought about refusing, maybe playing up my injuries until I could figure things out, but I quickly dismissed that option. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky 2019-10-15T00:00:00Z

The playground is packed with kids riding bikes, playing hopscotch, and shouting at each other over the rules of different games. You Bring the Distant Near 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

Everybody liked it better now that we went shouting through the house, playing hide-and-go-seek, and sliding down the banisters. Cheaper by the Dozen 1948-01-01T00:00:00Z

I am at my best, as a performer, when playing dead or being fake-punched. Better Nate Than Ever 2013-02-05T00:00:00Z

You could play the game perfectly and still lose, so why bother playing at all? Prisoner B-3087 2013-03-01T00:00:00Z

Both players surprised everyone, and probably each other, by virtually reversing their normal playing behavior during the first game. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

“That sure is one intense game of dots you’re playing there,” I said sarcastically. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

As if he or she were playing on Petra and Calder’s fears, the thief resurfaced the next morning. Chasing Vermeer 2004-06-01T00:00:00Z

I bite my lip and glance around to see if Carver Jamison or anyone else from the popular group is hiding out, in case they’re playing some sort of mean joke. The House That Lou Built 2018-06-12T00:00:00Z

She patted her again upon the shoulder as she said: “You are the only one worth playing for. Those others? Bah!” and she went shuffling and sidling on down the gallery toward her room. The Awakening 1899-01-01T00:00:00Z

Ellen Rogers was using the encyclopedia on one of them, and David Fox sat at the other, headphones clamped on his head, playing some sort of geography game. The Landry News 1999-12-01T00:00:00Z

There’s already loud music playing, so me and Sneaky start the dance with our handshake. Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero 2020-08-18T00:00:00Z

I'm playing along because this isn't one of Dad's usual lectures, like where he sucks all the fun out of a roller coaster by talking about g-forces and potential energy. Things Not Seen 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

The peach-faced Lombardy, who wasn’t in the running for the title, was playing the venerated Reshevsky, and the Old Fox stood at 9½ points. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Sometimes, when he was playing baseball with the older boys or rolling on the floor with Bob and Jane, he’d stop suddenly and say he guessed he had had enough for today. Cheaper by the Dozen 1948-01-01T00:00:00Z

I was thinking about Jess, playing cards for hours with me when I was too sick to leave my bedroom. The Honest Truth 2014-10-07T00:00:00Z

“They heard us playing, and it changed their path,” she said, contrite, as if she felt responsible for whatever had frightened her. Twilight 2005-10-05T00:00:00Z

The bar had been slowly filling with people and, as Bo and Toby walked back to the booth, a terrible Metallica cover band started playing “Ride the Lightning.” We'll Fly Away 2018-05-08T00:00:00Z

Then he left, smiled in the direction of the ’visor scanner, still playing away—waved to the reporters, and shouted, “We’ll have something for you tomorrow, boys. No kidding.” I, Robot 1950-12-02T00:00:00Z

When English and I were playing so well together! All American Boys 2015-09-29T00:00:00Z

I felt like an actor, playing the role of the good Zoroastrian grandson. Darius the Great Is Not Okay 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

Lydia was in her element, seldom happier than when playing dress-up with Dill, her own little fashion charity project. The Serpent King 2016-03-08T00:00:00Z

The nun called Maybeth from the sandbox where she was playing alone. Homecoming 1981-01-01T00:00:00Z

So it was no surprise that after he left, we lost interest in playing the game altogether. Summer of the Mariposas 2012-10-20T00:00:00Z

We were playing with leaves shaped like butterflies. Krik? Krak! 2015-12-15T00:00:00Z

I feel myself sometimes, in anxious moods, playing with the cartilage of my nose exactly as my brother does. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

Just his old ears playing tricks on him again. A Tangle of Knots 2013-02-05T00:00:00Z

“You was more handsome than that fool,” she said in tones of delight, watching her husband scamper across the field, tilting with the children, playing the Babylon King. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves 2009-10-13T00:00:00Z

I’d spent hours playing that fantasy through in my head but today the reel wouldn’t take. Educated 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

My friends—suddenly including some girls—were always playing tennis or going to the pool club then. Native Speaker 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

The pianos plink along softly; it sounds as if a dozen are playing all ar once, as if the sound comes from every point of the compass. All the Light We Cannot See 2014-05-06T00:00:00Z

“A lucky thing, too,” Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

And then he had started playing his violin. The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

Mouse was playing with a bunch of kids who had a soccer ball. Eleanor & Park 2013-02-26T00:00:00Z

The orchestra was playing one of Francie’s favorite songs, “Some Sunday Morning.” A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1943-01-01T00:00:00Z

“No. I used to. Sort of,” Mary Lou said, playing with her purity ring. Beauty Queens 2011-05-24T00:00:00Z

On either side of me, folks are packing cars to leave, hammering wood over windows, or else standing, sitting on the porch, playing music, drinking liquor like it’s Mardi Gras. Ninth Ward 2010-08-16T00:00:00Z

To our tiny audience, it must have looked as though we were playing not The Tragedy of Hamlet but The Comedy of Errors. The Shakespeare Stealer 1998-05-01T00:00:00Z

Then she walks around to the other side and takes a picture of the poster of the person playing Kim. A High Five for Glenn Burke 2020-02-25T00:00:00Z

Then he said this must be some kind of April fools joke you guys are playing on me. Flowers for Algernon 1959-05-01T00:00:00Z

After he hurt his ankle playing soccer, they told him to go home until he was better. Class Matters 2005-09-02T00:00:00Z

If you were on a playground and she thought you were playing too rough, she'd tell you. The Lemonade War 2007-04-23T00:00:00Z

I would’ve been tempted to hate her were it not for her playing. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

“Band was fine. We’re playing ‘Seven Nation Army’ for the spring concert on Wednesday. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

He wandered through the wild solitudes of Thrace, comfortless except for his lyre, playing, always playing, and the rocks and the rivers and the trees heard him gladly, his only companions. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes 1942-01-01T00:00:00Z

I clap my fist against my palm, playing Scissors against no one. They Both Die at the End 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

We found him playing in the parking lot behind one of the Darrow Homes. Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

Pong watched the people on the decks of their tidy homes as they pulled up nets of glittery carp or sat in semicircles, playing card games. A Wish in the Dark 2020-03-24T00:00:00Z

We were nothing but cousins, and Johnny was a pain because he didn’t like playing with girls. We Were Liars 2014-05-13T00:00:00Z

I came back from playing outside and saw him in front of the VCR. Fourth Grade Rats 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z

When I was playing the set, all four limbs just knew what to do without my even having to think. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

In front of her, the TV is broadcasting CNN’s Republican primary coverage, while the tablet in her lap is playing an old episode of Drag Race. Red, White & Royal Blue 2019-05-14T00:00:00Z

And he was getting better at playing with fire now, too, as fascinated as a boy with a puppy. Inkheart 2003-09-23T00:00:00Z

The nun stopped playing and said something, at which all the little girls jumped up and ran to different parts of the playground. Homecoming 1981-01-01T00:00:00Z

When I first started playing the cello, Dad was still playing drums in his band, though that all started to taper off a couple years later when Teddy arrived. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

When I got there, two boys were playing table tennis on the verandah. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier 2007-02-13T00:00:00Z

Mariam would see them when she passed by, always dressed in their fatigues, squatting by the front door of Tariq’s house, playing cards and smoking, their Kalashnikovs leaning against the wall. A Thousand Splendid Suns 2007-05-22T00:00:00Z

Permission from the Community Woodward School was forthcoming for Bobby’s three-week absence, and the boy was delighted to be on the road playing chess instead of being in the classroom. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Yet here Matt saw, on grave after grave, statues of skeletons playing guitars or dancing or driving around in little plastic hovercars. The House of the Scorpion 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

There’s also a pair of older Black men at a small table in a corner, playing dominoes. Fast Pitch 2021-08-31T00:00:00Z

The voice is primary, and singing songs and speaking and creating poems should be mastered before playing an instrument, which is seen as an activity that extends the body. Music and the Child 2016-06-14T00:00:00Z

“Making your third grader go for a spray tan instead of playing in the park just so Mom can outsource her failed dreams to her kid? So wrong.” Beauty Queens 2011-05-24T00:00:00Z

I didn’t mind him coming over to play, because both our favorite game was playing with the little plastic dinosaurs that I had and you couldn’t really have any fun playing by yourself. The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

No matter how awful this season had been, the idea of playing basketball all summer appealed to me. Here to Stay 2018-09-08T00:00:00Z

“We didn’t talk about stuff like that. We just hung out. Because... it hurt being alone. We were just into playing tricks.” Uglies 2005-02-08T00:00:00Z

We’d always done things as a threesome, riding our bikes around the neighborhood, going to the park for ice cream, playing board games at my house, and watching movies at Audrey’s. Keep It Together, Keiko Carter 2020-05-05T00:00:00Z

In the street below some boys were playing basketball using a milk crate as a hoop. 145th Street: Short Stories 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was especially intense since we were playing against Chip’s team. Darius the Great Is Not Okay 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

Suddenly, Grover seemed very interested in playing notes on his pipes. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

I was playing with natural outcomes, setting up an already battered kid for a big fall. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

The film crew can't get enough of her playing her little piano pieces, as though she were some prodigy. What the Night Sings 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

After the match, Fischer explained that he hadn’t been playing for draws but realized that his three-point lead was enough to win the title, as long as he could prevent Spassky from winning a game. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

The family was all caught up in the violin playing. The Metamorphosis 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z

That the sounds of playing in the yard had stopped. One Crazy Summer 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

Brian was playing the kit so well that I felt like we were telepathic; it was as if my right hand and his right foot were wired to one brain. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

She looked at my eyes, and I knew she was playing that game we have between us. Winger 2013-05-14T00:00:00Z

Just when I've settled on that plan, I hear a noise, under the sounds of Mama's playing. Girl in the Blue Coat 2016-04-05T00:00:00Z

“If a Nightbeast comes at you, just play dead. They like playing with live food, so dead prey isn’t as attractive,” Valley said. Witchlings 2022-04-05T00:00:00Z

A handsome Eames-designed executive swivel chair, an exact duplicate of the one Fischer had sat in while playing Petrosian in Buenos Aires, was flown in from the United States. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Nearby, in the playing field, children were running around with a ball that they passed back and forth; he could hear their shouts. Son 2012-10-02T00:00:00Z

I found myself standing in an old video arcade, playing Galaga. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

Add to that the odd dole check, playing a card game or two, and that’s it. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

We were all in the living room, playing cards, when the phone rang that evening. Purple Hibiscus 2003-10-01T00:00:00Z

Me playing dots with Maya at my lunch table. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

My dad turns on the radio as he drives me to school, and it’s the same thing playing in between each and every single song: Charles “Sandy” Sanders has gone missing. King and the Dragonflies 2020-02-04T00:00:00Z

Her brother Alex lets me in and then goes back to playing a video game on the couch. Saints and Misfits 2017-06-13T00:00:00Z

It was playing it very jazzy and funny. The Catcher in the Rye 1951-07-16T00:00:00Z

Martin’s face is extra pink, and he’s playing with the skin on his elbow. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda 2015-03-25T00:00:00Z

“Hale knows everything,” the informant Morrison had told agents, and there were signs that Morrison might be playing his own duplicitous game. Killers of the Flower Moon 2017-04-18T00:00:00Z

I always thought it would mean playing video games in your pajamas all day and eating cereal from a huge mixing bowl. Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero 2020-08-18T00:00:00Z

Running and playing and laughing, certain that the bad things in the world would never touch us. How It Went Down 2014-10-21T00:00:00Z

I tried humming Snow Falling with the Late Autumn Leaves; Calloused Fingers and a Lute With Four Strings, but it wasn’t the same as playing it. The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

I came back from my spying foray one afternoon to find her playing “Mother May I?” with half the village’s children. The Poisonwood Bible 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was playing skins and had his shirt tied around his head; as he ran, the sleeves swung like elephant trunks. Eleven 2014-01-06T00:00:00Z

She thought he was playing, but things only got worse after they married. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 2010-02-02T00:00:00Z

The old men were still playing dominoes, sitting on plastic milk crates, but the song on the small box had changed. Bodega Dreams 2000-03-14T00:00:00Z

They strolled around the lake, bought tea at a stall, and rented deck chairs to listen to elderly men of the Salvation Army playing Elgar adapted for brass band. Atonement 2001-09-20T00:00:00Z

Had I been able to find part-time jobs to fill my spare time, I probably wouldn’t have continued playing tennis. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

Maybe it was the mariachi song with the sad trumpets that was playing on the radio, I don’t know. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter 2017-10-17T00:00:00Z

Billy Preston played a few numbers, and behind him was my dad, a long-haired skinny white hippie playing his horn. Please Ignore Vera Dietz 2012-10-12T00:00:00Z

Melita especially liked the sports, when the girls’ groups competed against neighboring girls’ leagues, playing games such as “capture the flag.” Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow 2005-04-01T00:00:00Z

When Day wasn’t working the night shift, he and Henrietta spent evenings at home, playing cards and listening to Bennie Smith play blues guitar on the radio after the kids went to sleep. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 2010-02-02T00:00:00Z

After lunch we went and sat in the park watching these little kids playing with their parents. We Were Here 2009-10-05T00:00:00Z

We told the little boy we were playing a game called Whisper so he wouldn’t talk or laugh too loud. Milkweed 2003-09-09T00:00:00Z

Me out of awe for the mystery playing out and Rosaleen because her lips were sealed with Red Rose snuff. The Secret Life of Bees 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Chester wanted them always to remember him playing this piece. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

Darissa taught us a new handball game called Butt’s Up, which none of us were very good at, but we liked playing because it had the word butt in it. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

Why waste time “playing,” as I’d been ordered, when I could spend some valuable time with Granddaddy? The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate 2009-05-12T00:00:00Z

In the dream, if that’s what it was, she was playing a game of some sort, laughing and running up the empty street, kicking a big aluminum water bucket. The Things They Carried 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

Elisha did not arrest his playing of a mournful song: “Oh, Lord, have mercy on me.” Go Tell It on the Mountain 1953-05-18T00:00:00Z

“I don’t get nervous when I’m playing the violin. This is way worse.” Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

And all the while Mr. Russell was playing Copland downstairs, and the stupid puffins were bobbling about in the water, sweetly and beautifully. Okay for Now 2011-04-05T00:00:00Z

But don’t worry, even though I wanted to live out my dream, I didn’t expect you to know every single line and tell me to stop playing with the trees and come down. Thirteen Reasons Why 2007-10-18T00:00:00Z

Hila had gotten up, as silent as a mouse, and was standing before them, a curious smile playing on her lips. Beasts of Prey 2021-09-28T00:00:00Z

“So this is what boys do for fun when they’re not playing football?” Out of Darkness 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z

I wondered what would have been the situation had he been playing against a white South African. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

And I was playing The 11th Hour on my computer that evening when a taxi stopped outside the house. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

“I knew that Aron wasn’t around very much this summer, but I thought he was just out playing.” East of Eden 1952-09-01T00:00:00Z

Rusty scales and triads led to first attempts at “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” that eventually gave way to basic etudes until I was playing Bach suites. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

I still don’t understand how watching someone else play something could be more fun than actually playing yourself. How to Disappear Completely 2020-04-28T00:00:00Z

He grabs my arm, that devilish smile playing around his lips. Dread Nation 2018-04-03T00:00:00Z

At the front, outside the teachers’ entrance, is a din field covered with cinders, the boys’ playing field. Cat's Eye 1988-09-01T00:00:00Z

Finally, when the sun was gone and the streets were dark, Bryce stopped playing his harmonica. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane 2006-03-30T00:00:00Z

I had my high-powered mom posse, and Barack spent what little leisure time he had playing basketball with a group of buddies. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

When I wasn’t outside playing, I spent hours happily reading. October Sky 1999-04-01T00:00:00Z

“Let the Good Times Roll” playing on the radio next door. Finding Langston 2018-08-14T00:00:00Z

“Byron, how many times have I told you about saying ‘ain’t,’ and Kenneth, you stop playing and move that towel this minute!” The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

When Burnham and Root were together, one woman said, “I used always to think of some big strong tree with lightning playing around it.” The Devil in the White City 2003-02-11T00:00:00Z

Shouts and grunts and the sounds of machines, and oddly, an orchestra playing somewhere inside. The Light in Hidden Places 2020-03-03T00:00:00Z

In the new ward there were a lot of guys playing cards, playing dominoes. Fallen Angels 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z

Stanley didn't know what kind of game Mr. Sir was playing. Holes 1998-08-20T00:00:00Z

“Mr. Tate doesn’t think you can continue playing ball if you don’t get your grades up,” Moms said. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

When I finished playing the first measure of “Discovery,” a message briefly appeared, carved into the stone from which I’d pulled the guitar. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

And then, in the way of dreams, the picnic was done and they were playing in the meadow, running and shouting and tossing a glittering ball from one to another. Coraline 2002-02-24T00:00:00Z

There’s a gramophone in Mrs. O’Connor’s playing an Irish jig or a reel and boys and girls are dancing around kicking their legs out and keeping their hands to their sides. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir 1996-09-05T00:00:00Z

Radar and I sit up front, and we try to keep from worrying by playing a game we’ve just invented called That Guy Is a Gigolo. Paper Towns 2008-10-16T00:00:00Z

Someone in the back of the house was playing the piano. The Secret History 1992-10-16T00:00:00Z

I’m instantly caught up in a scene playing behind my lids, and I feel cool drops of water on my forehead. The Adoration of Jenna Fox 2008-04-29T00:00:00Z

I was just a girl of five, playing with my sister and my friends, expecting life to go on the way it was forever. Lost Boy, Lost Girl 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

There are two children on the floor playing with a toy train. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir 1996-09-05T00:00:00Z

Mostly she watched...everything: us kids playing in the river, the way the trees tilted to the north towards what was left of the natural landscape beyond the clear-cuts stripped of topsoil. The Marrow Thieves 2017-05-10T00:00:00Z

He is alone in his room, playing the same tune over and over again on an acoustic guitar, trying to figure out what it means. Every Day 2012-08-28T00:00:00Z

This had really irked me, so I started practicing Joust on my own, playing a few games a night against an AI opponent. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

Getting Dad to take his annual flu shot was more difficult than getting his attention while the Marlins were playing. Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence 2022-03-22T00:00:00Z

“I mean, what’s to stop someone from dialing your number a million times and then playing the biggest hoax of all time on you?” Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

“Besides I’m tired of playing hide-and-seek. I want a ride.” I, Robot 1950-12-02T00:00:00Z

Next to the clock there sits a solitary playing card. The Night Circus 2011-09-13T00:00:00Z

But then, one day, some kids are playing cricket on the lawn and he gets smacked in the head with a cricket ball. The Catcher in the Rye 1951-07-16T00:00:00Z

When she was fourteen she saw a boy on a bike playing chicken with a car at the corner of Eighty-Second Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard. The 57 Bus 2017-10-17T00:00:00Z

There was lightness to TimeStar’s words, the sound of playing dumb. The Last Last-Day-of-Summer 2019-04-02T00:00:00Z

Under the couch there are toys that I don't ever remember playing with. Ghost 2016-08-30T00:00:00Z

Around the same time in Sweden - in approximately 1000 bc - it would seem that people were playing brass instruments. The Story of Music 2012-12-25T00:00:00Z

Genie thought that sounded kinda cool—Grandma out there picking peas and Grandpop sitting on the porch with his shades on, playing some kind of pea-picking soundtrack. As Brave As You 2016-05-03T00:00:00Z

You were playing ball—I don’t know if it was basketball, baseball, or what—but you couldn’t come over until later. Thirteen Reasons Why 2007-10-18T00:00:00Z

He was playing with the handle on the side of the La-Z-Boy, flipping the footrest up and down, apparently barely tuned in. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet 2007-04-30T00:00:00Z

“It’s...it’s a book we found while playing Book Scavenger.” Book Scavenger 2015-06-02T00:00:00Z

The Lake Worth Casino doesn’t have slot machines or people playing blackjack, the way you’d think from its name. Merci Suárez Changes Gears 2018-09-11T00:00:00Z

The fight with Jenna is still playing over in my head as my mother leads me into the therapist’s office. A Mango-Shaped Space 2003-04-16T00:00:00Z

Inside, my family sat around, playing Rook and talking so I couldn’t understand them. Darius the Great Is Not Okay 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

To give you some idea of the difference that articulation makes, though, here are audio examples of a violin playing a legato54 and a staccato55 passage. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

Think now about playing in the Cotton Bowl, deep in the heart of Dallas. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

The girls had approached them while they were playing outside and asked where they could find flowers. Just Mercy 2014-10-21T00:00:00Z

They have their trays lowered and are drinking tea and playing Snap, fumbling the slippery cards, laughing like cars on gravel when they cheat or make mistakes. Cat's Eye 1988-09-01T00:00:00Z

Miss Saunders stares down at him till he turns his head away and starts playing with the buttons on his shirt like some two-year-old. The Skin I'm In 1998-10-16T00:00:00Z

President Armelio holds up a deck of playing cards like he just fished it out of the sea. It’s Kind of a Funny Story 2006-04-02T00:00:00Z

I remembered how green the playing field grass had been in the ’70s when Baba used to bring me to soccer games here. The Kite Runner 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

This was to be a serious thing, not playing. October Sky 1999-04-01T00:00:00Z

They were playing that it was still alive. Strange the Dreamer 2017-03-28T00:00:00Z

“Maybe you could bring the guitar to school and follow me around playing music everywhere I go.” Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

Sometimes, when Mundín and Sam are out working on the car and Mami and her friends are playing canasta on the patio, it seems as if things might be going back to normal. Before We Were Free 2002-08-13T00:00:00Z

A smooth, old-school R&B groove is playing in the background, and it makes this whole situation weird, as if this is a music video and Darius is the star and I'm just an extra. Pride 2018-09-18T00:00:00Z

My brother and sister are probably playing together. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

Third: “I’m not playing, Overbrook. I really need to talk to you.” Wintergirls 2009-03-19T00:00:00Z

He surprised me by playing the hardest track on the album, the raging “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” aka “Rat in a Cage,” about twenty times in a row one day. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet 2007-04-30T00:00:00Z

What Nandan is saying, I thought to myself, is that the playing field is being flattened ... The World Is Flat 2005-04-05T00:00:00Z

“Have you ever seen them riding tenspeeds, or shooting hoops, or playing tennis?” Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

The idea of retiring him and taking him home to Ridgewood began playing in his mind. Seabiscuit: An American Legend 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

I scoop up the one playing with his tail. Shouting at the Rain 2019-05-07T00:00:00Z

He spied his friend’s bicycle leaning against a tree at the edge of the playing field. The Giver 1993-04-01T00:00:00Z

Both teams were playing hard, and the close game had drawn the attention of parents and players on other local teams scheduled for games later in the morning. Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

We weren’t playing the piano that day, because even two floors away the sound caused her mother pain. Catching Fire 2009-09-01T00:00:00Z

From that time on they were so busy playing around with that Ck’o’yo magic they neglected the mother corn altar. Ceremony: 1977-03-01T00:00:00Z

The Magpie was watching her like a cat playing with a young and inexperienced mouse. Inkheart 2003-09-23T00:00:00Z

She was content to stay at Maer Hall with Elizabeth, playing the piano, reading, doing needlework, and taking care of their beloved mother, who was bed-ridden and very ill. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

We were playing at our gym but the stands had as many Carver fans as Latimer fans. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

After lunch it was on to creative writing, where Boobie spent a few minutes playing with a purple plastic gargoyle-looking monster. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

Each of these modes can easily be found by playing its one octave range, or ambitus, on the "white key" notes on a piano. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

Archer leaned in close, the light playing across his chin, his cheekbones, his golden eyes. The Reader 2016-01-12T00:00:00Z

The next morning, the bakery is hung with flags and streamers and a Dixieland band is playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Dreaming in Cuban 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

If you think this method will work for you, try playing the interval you are having trouble hearing, and see what tune it reminds you of. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

Before I could ask about the kittens’ names, Mattie was off, playing tag with a little girl I didn’t know. Hattie Big Sky 2006-09-26T00:00:00Z

One beating and one lecture was about right for two good stories that would be told for a long time by old men playing checkers under the Cold Sassy tree at the depot. Cold Sassy Tree 1984-11-02T00:00:00Z

When Ophie was little she would sit on Mama’s lap and watch, and when she got old enough to play she would take turns playing either her mama or daddy. Ophie's Ghosts 2021-05-18T00:00:00Z

After a few minutes, he starts playing with his phone, and I watch the beautiful lights reflected on the water. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter 2017-10-17T00:00:00Z

Radar answered me in the disjointed way of someone playing Resurrection. Paper Towns 2008-10-16T00:00:00Z

Basta was still standing on the stairs, playing with the rabbit’s foot he wore around his neck as a lucky charm. Inkheart 2003-09-23T00:00:00Z

As it came closer it moved past the other greystone that lay in the grass, and I realized my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

When Daniel turns to face him, it looks like he’s been playing monster dodgeball in gym, which sounds terrible, but is actually a lot of fun. A Bird Will Soar 2021-10-19T00:00:00Z

Like the kids at Yancy Academy: rich brats playing at being bad boys. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

She comes down the patio and gives Vic a little peck on the cheek, whispering as she does, "I've told them he's been playing tennis with you." How the García Girls Lost Their Accents 1991-01-04T00:00:00Z

I bought him lunch, then he headed home, went back online, and began playing Quake II with Eric to wind down. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

For one crazy second I think he’s playing our driving game, pretending to sleep, but then I understand that he will never play anything ever again . Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

I told her about how my brother would be playing his last football game of the season on New Year’s Day. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 1999-02-01T00:00:00Z

The red trucks entered the playing field, rode toward one end in twin clouds of dust, sunlight reflecting off their hubcaps. The Kite Runner 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

He and Papa smoke their pipes and stay up late playing cards. The Night Diary 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

Three children and an old man were playing football with a tin can on the other side of the square. Inkheart 2003-09-23T00:00:00Z

A moment later, his voice began playing over the speakers, repeating what he’d just said. Turtles All the Way Down 2017-10-10T00:00:00Z

Not just like a white kid, but like I was a...a part of everybody running and jumping and playing all over America. Harbor Me 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

The gang was playing basketball in the hot sun. Bless Me, Ultima 1972-01-01T00:00:00Z

For example, if "a quarter note gets a beat," then playing many quarter notes in a row would mean playing a new note on every beat. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

A few dogs and several children were playing in the glow of the flames, waiting for the shiny pink suckling pig to be served. The House of the Spirits: A Novel 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

As we exit and make our way to the playing field, it becomes pretty apparent that this maybe isn’t friendly territory for a team like ours. Fast Pitch 2021-08-31T00:00:00Z

The piece he was playing was called “Come Back to Sorrento,” and by the greatest good luck, it happened to be Mama Bellini’s favorite song. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was surrounded by chess officials, players, journalists, and the merely curious, and within hours of touching down in Yugoslavia he was at the board playing, analyzing, and talking chess. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Did they know about my breaking the law by playing tennis with whites? Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

A toddler is playing with it, knocking beads together, chasing them along the loops and waves of colorful wires. I Can Make This Promise 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z

The pianist stopped what he was playing and started something new. Genuine Fraud 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

She knew I was just playing tough, though. When I Was the Greatest 2014-01-07T00:00:00Z

Miss Effie Belle could hear them singing when she got home from playing for the Methodists, and what she heard wasn’t “Holy Spirit, Truth Divine.” Cold Sassy Tree 1984-11-02T00:00:00Z

When she’s done playing, she comes over and I show her my drawing. Lucky Broken Girl 2017-04-11T00:00:00Z

They were in the little back office, playing cards. I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 2019-09-03T00:00:00Z

The fiddlers are playing a lilting ballad, and at my nod, the boy takes my hands as confidently as if we've been friends for years. An Ember in the Ashes 2015-04-28T00:00:00Z

It’s not playing a joke that any eight year old boy could have thought of, it’s letting your own uncle be laughed at by a man that would wear a red tie. The Sound and the Fury 1929-01-01T00:00:00Z

Over the years, in the time before and after the playing of games, in the trembling zone of adolescence, Ben had listened to the dialogue and banter of athletes talking about girls. The Great Santini 1976-01-01T00:00:00Z

Seems weird to think of emotions happening one at a time like playing cards being dealt out. Tradition 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z

Mama stopped playing with her ring and rubbed her hands together. The Red Umbrella 2010-04-25T00:00:00Z

One of my dad’s old Beatles tapes had been playing in the machine with the volume turned all the way down. Doing Time Online 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Living in San Francisco and not playing Book Scavenger was like living in a chocolate factory but not eating any sweets. Book Scavenger 2015-06-02T00:00:00Z

The man who had been playing with the two kids was standing a bit away from him, holding a kid in each arm and shouting something. Miracle's Boys 2000-04-23T00:00:00Z

There were my brothers playing at soccer and our courtyard with its tamarind tree and me at the well. Homeless Bird 2000-03-01T00:00:00Z

“Oh, dear. Have you boys been playing that castle sewer game again?” Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library 2013-06-25T00:00:00Z

“We’ve gone from training and assisting the saviors of humankind to playing nursemaid? No thank you.” Aru Shah and the End of Time 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

He was playing it and all were singing. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1943-01-01T00:00:00Z

She understood the words he was saying but thought he must be joking, playing a terrible joke on her and her brother and sister. The Bad Beginning 1999-08-25T00:00:00Z

In the evening the soldiers of the new regiment came down and stood around playing the juke box and drinking Coca-Cola and sizing up the girls for the time when they would be paid. Cannery Row 1945-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I never asked you how you felt after playing at that concert,” Jessie said. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street 2017-10-03T00:00:00Z

After the last girl gives her speech, a band comes onstage, an indigena band, playing the panpipe music MacGyver played on his cassette years ago. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

But now I could see our playing didn’t have nothing to do with the truth. Elijah of Buxton 2007-08-06T00:00:00Z

“You don’t feel like playing!” the mouse exclaimed. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

“My grandmother Lucy says a lady doesn’t climb rocks after a certain age. She says my mother would be scandalized to think of me climbing rocks or playing kickball in my school dresses at recess!” Each Little Bird That Sings 2005-03-01T00:00:00Z

They went to the back and left me there with two other guys who were playing Pac-Man and talking about some guy from the old days. Bodega Dreams 2000-03-14T00:00:00Z

“So the poor knight is to be left sticking in the hedge, is he?” asked Mr. Brooke, still watching the river, and playing with the wild rose in his buttonhole. Little Women 1868-01-01T00:00:00Z

They loved playing tag or card games with campaign staff during the quieter moments and made a point of finding an ice cream shop in every new place they went. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

Thanks for the tip about playing on the left side. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

“We are not playing games here,” he said. The Hot Zone 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

After a while there was somebody playing a guitar outside her door. Their Eyes Were Watching God 1937-09-18T00:00:00Z

Surrounded by cough medicine and cold sore ointment, he started playing a “gig,” meaning three numbers at once. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

The band was playing again, a loud fast tune, like they were breaking up. The Sound and the Fury 1929-01-01T00:00:00Z

“Theodore saw you up yonder and ran for Mr. Finch, and when he couldn’t find him he got me. God Almighty—!” When he saw her trembling he knew she had not been playing. Go Set a Watchman: A Novel 2015-07-14T00:00:00Z

Daddy picked up the small wooden plane and made it soar through the air, like a little boy playing with a toy. The Lions of Little Rock 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Hearing about that fight made me nervous about wearing an armband, even though I’m not even playing Command. A Good Kind of Trouble 2019-03-12T00:00:00Z

If after I got to ten I blew the horn and it sounded pretty good I knew I’d be playing along with the Dusky Devastators of the Depression in a week or two. Bud, Not Buddy 1999-09-02T00:00:00Z

The playing stopped abruptly and Charles looked up. The Secret History 1992-10-16T00:00:00Z

In the courtyard around his church lots of boys hanging out, talking, playing with an old soccer ball. Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

“Have you ever heard music playing inside you?” Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet 2007-04-30T00:00:00Z

Okay, I admit I'm just playing around now. The Martian 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

June kept playing while each of them came, until there was only Rosaleen and me left. The Secret Life of Bees 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Late one afternoon I was playing by myself like I always did, running around the neighborhood. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

When they arrived, the guitarist was already playing, and someone had thoughtfully provided him with a bucket of beer. A Girl Named Disaster 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

Some of the younger children are already playing with water balloons. Betty Before X 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

Then she smiled, lowered her voice, and said, “Now I wish I’d given you more playing time.” Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

He broke it on a sunny Saturday up at Lake Windsor High, playing against my old school. Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

Her father was lying on the couch, reading a magazine, with a glass of wine on the coffee table, and there was saxophone music playing on the stereo. Interpreter of Maladies 1999-05-22T00:00:00Z

Once, when he had come on Alan unawares, he heard him playing the flageolet. The Door in the Wall 1949-01-03T00:00:00Z

The intro music playing all around us makes the hairs rise on the back of my neck. Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

I could almost hear the Star Wars theme music playing in my head as I stood on the stage. Wonder 2012-02-14T00:00:00Z

My birthday wish for him had not come true while I was away or he’d be out of that neck brace and wheelchair and we’d be playing football. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

As I drive down the County Road, they’re playing “Walking After Midnight.” The Help 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z

The coach was playing with my mind because his game was raggedy. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

He said to me, “Tom, the playing field is being leveled.” The World Is Flat 2005-04-05T00:00:00Z

I was with him once, as he watched them playing. Kindred 1979-06-01T00:00:00Z

Hanako tried playing peekaboo, but the child didn’t want to play. A Place to Belong 2019-05-14T00:00:00Z

One afternoon, I was playing soccer when I attempted to steal the ball and felt a searing pain in my heel. Long Walk to Freedom 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

Every afternoon as soon as she finished playing on the piano in the gym she walked down the main street past the store where he worked. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 1940-07-29T00:00:00Z

If it means playing lady’s maid to Katherine in the meantime, so be it. Dread Nation 2018-04-03T00:00:00Z

“Maybe,” she answered, playing with the tiny pink flowerets at the base of her collar. Native Speaker 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

As they walked along the highway, some cars came perilously close, as if the drivers were playing a cruel game with them. Lupita Mañana 1981-03-21T00:00:00Z

He hoisted himself onto the payload of the school district’s flatbed truck and stopped the tape on the boom box, which was playing “Here Comes the Sun.” Schooled 2000-02-29T00:00:00Z

Oh, what low joke was Fortuna playing on him now? A Confederacy of Dunces 1980-01-01T00:00:00Z

If she wanted to hear someone playing at the organ, all she had to do was listen to that dreadful Lillian Woodward. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

We fell into the box-and-one with the rest of the team playing the zone box and me on Ice. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

Not playing another sport, I can see, feel the foil’s power. Black Brother, Black Brother 2020-03-03T00:00:00Z

We pass the time looking out at the evolving landscape, talking, playing games. Orphan Train 2013-04-02T00:00:00Z

Music was playing on the radio, an old Artie Shaw tune, why not, and Milton watched the red light on the Penobscot Building blinking on and off. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

The sparrow listened intently as the young mouse unfolded the story of Redwall Abbey and the part that he was playing in its hour of need. Redwall 1986-10-23T00:00:00Z

She had heard it only two or three times in her life, when the Fitzgibbons had left a window open and someone was playing inside. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH 1970-06-01T00:00:00Z

Whenever I’m playing center field, I always keep a wad of seeds in my cheek and spit them at patches of grass, divots, pieces of paper, and dandelions. A High Five for Glenn Burke 2020-02-25T00:00:00Z

Isaiah, the boy from Mr. Jackson’s class who was playing Wilbur, frolicked heartily, getting into character. George 2015-08-25T00:00:00Z

I sighed, too embarrassed to tell him how much I missed school myself—not arithmetic or geography or social studies, but reading and drawing and playing with my friends at recess. The Old Willis Place 2004-09-20T00:00:00Z

Miles below me, the children playing on the beach were the size of beetles. The Witches 1983-10-27T00:00:00Z

Is she playing all the right notes in the right order and in tune? The Sun Is Also a Star 2016-11-01T00:00:00Z

A girl is standing in front of the entrance, playing around on her phone. The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

The kid was back playing with all the other kids, who got an extra long recess, because of what he did to my sister. Everything Sad Is Untrue 2020-08-25T00:00:00Z

I hear “Mrs. Walton grew some balls,” and “She ain’t playing around with us no more,” among other things. Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

Rufus didn’t even mind being the Nazi dinosaurs most of the time and it was O.K. playing with him because he didn’t cheat and didn’t try to steal my plastic monsters. The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

Because at least he wasn’t stuck somewhere in Georgia, walking around playing at being alive. Ophie's Ghosts 2021-05-18T00:00:00Z

“Go on now, look at this silly man who's playing scarecrow just for you.” The Thief Lord 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z

A few days later—after we had arrived at Granny’s—I was playing alone in a wild field, digging in the ground with an old knife. Black Boy 1945-01-01T00:00:00Z

“You better quit playing before Jesus strikes you dead!” Monday's Not Coming 2018-05-22T00:00:00Z

Ivy knew she was being mean, but she didn’t want her sister to comfort her, especially not the way she used to, by playing with Ivy’s hair. Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

The radio is on low; swing music is playing, and then Margaret holds her hand up and says, “Wait. Did you hear that?” Orphan Train 2013-04-02T00:00:00Z

The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

The scale that is created by playing all the notes in a minor key signature is a natural minor scale. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

I was astonished to see how our leaders treated him only as a threat to their power, inciting mistrust by playing on backward, anti-intellectual ideas about race and class. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

Even worse, Werfel had collected some of the airy art of elfinkind, captured generations ago in some raid—paintings of heroes riding griffins and kings playing chess. The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge 2018-09-25T00:00:00Z

It was in the bunker, while playing with the damp soil that crawled with crickets and ants, that the child had told Ugwu his name. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

Once again, I felt off balance, as if I was playing tug-of-war and the person I was tugging against let go. Moon Over Manifest 2010-10-12T00:00:00Z

During Easter vacation Tom said good manners were no harder to learn than rolling over or playing dead. The House of the Scorpion 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

A man with one leg and a barrel-organ began playing Roses in Picardy, at the end of the road. Rebecca 1938-08-01T00:00:00Z

Horace Whaley would not ridicule him now about playing Sherlock Holmes. Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel 1994-09-12T00:00:00Z

“Are we playing or what? The bell’s going to ring pretty soon.” Goodbye Stranger 2015-08-04T00:00:00Z

“You know it’s not still playing, Nate,” she says, slowly, for the first time losing her patience. Better Nate Than Ever 2013-02-05T00:00:00Z

We were hanging out on her bed, playing dominoes. Burning Blue 2012-10-25T00:00:00Z

Most were talking quietly, or playing card games. The Darkest Minds 2012-12-18T00:00:00Z

Lennon and McCartney first started playing together in 1957, seven years prior to landing in America. Outliers 2008-11-18T00:00:00Z

Everything that I saw—the otter playing in the kelp, the rings of foam around the rocks that guarded the harbor, the gulls flying, the tides moving past the sandspit—filled me with happiness. Island of the Blue Dolphins 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

I figured he’d fume more about me playing than the Lutherans. Hattie Big Sky 2006-09-26T00:00:00Z

“Look at the kitty playing with the ball,” the girl’s mother had said. The Pigman 1968-10-12T00:00:00Z

He felt it when he had to stop playing flag football because his body couldn’t take it. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

The album was like any other, complete with a few childhood photos of playing in the yard and by the pool and things like that. Where Things Come Back 2011-05-03T00:00:00Z

I always thought it was wild to see dudes you knew were hustlers playing chess for hours. The Boy in the Black Suit 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

She walked over and started playing with my hair, so much darker than her own. The Science of Breakable Things 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

“Your mouth is all black. You look like a kid that’s been playing in the coal bin.” The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

They were playing him for an April Fool joke and he foold them instead. Flowers for Algernon 1959-05-01T00:00:00Z

Quads—now playing on a body near you. Seedfolks 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

She knew she sounded like Mom when they used to get in trouble for playing hangman during church. Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

I think about all the other ways Ollie Mae could punish me—no playing outside, extra chores, or a discussion about how what I did was wrong. Betty Before X 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

In jazz, the shift in emphasis meant bigger bands comprising more structured families of instruments playing well-honed, written-out arrangements, with occasional well-defined solos emerging from the texture. The Story of Music 2012-12-25T00:00:00Z

Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only with the electric clocks, but the wind-up kind, too. Slaughterhouse-Five 1969-01-01T00:00:00Z

It wasn’t that she was a bad mother, she “was just tired of playing the role of mother,” as she so bluntly told me one morning. The Freedom Writers Diary 1999-10-12T00:00:00Z

Everybody was surprised at Janie playing checkers but they liked it. Their Eyes Were Watching God 1937-09-18T00:00:00Z

Those were the days of strict segregation, and the idea of playing for Permian was of course almost inconceivable. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was playing it so straight I hesitated for only a second before I told him about Mr. Bernoffski and the weird flash of the girl with the razor. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet 2007-04-30T00:00:00Z

And with that music playing so loud, Mr. Buono wouldn't even hear this conversation. Maybe He Just Likes You 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z

She scolded Cool Papa for playing his blues records too loud and for wearing his shades inside the house. Clayton Byrd Goes Underground 2017-05-09T00:00:00Z

They say they don't feel like playing with us little kids. Brown Girl Dreaming 2014-08-28T00:00:00Z

I followed the sounds and burst into the room so hard that Annette stopped playing and jumped up. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

“Pretend we’re playing pool. We got to punch the rowboat free. Hit its back end, so the front pokes free. Ready?” Ninth Ward 2010-08-16T00:00:00Z

He heard shouting and laughing on the shore, a band playing music, and a woman's voice singing, “Take my hand, oh, my darling, take my hand and dance with me...” A Wish in the Dark 2020-03-24T00:00:00Z

He enjoyed playing more than studying, and was an indifferent scholar. Long Walk to Freedom 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

It’s the song I was playing over and over again in my headphones after I left last week. Sparrow 2017-10-10T00:00:00Z

“I’m sure he’s in the basement playing video games.” Leah on the Offbeat 2018-04-24T00:00:00Z

We were playing them good and you could tell that the team was getting their confidence back. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

She looked like a little kid playing hide-and-seek, a kid who thinks that just because she shuts out the world, she can’t be seen. P.S. I Miss You 2017-09-26T00:00:00Z

So many of my classmates who look like me are rocking to a beat that’s not even playing. On the Come Up 2019-02-05T00:00:00Z

The kid holds a playing card, but for now I don’t see what suit it is. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

“No we don’t. We literally lost because we stopped playing midway.” What If It's Us 2018-10-09T00:00:00Z

Then I figured everybody was probably out playing squash or away on weekends, so I answered it myself. The Bell Jar 1963-01-14T00:00:00Z

They had five guys playing on each side, shirts and skins, and only one other guy sitting on the side. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

I had been looking forward to playing all day and now I was just sitting on the bench. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

“Remember how you’re always telling me I have to quit right away when I’m playing computer games and you think it’s time for me to do something else?” The Strangers 2019-04-02T00:00:00Z

Sam is trying to get her to sing along to the holiday music playing from the speakers, but her mood won’t budge. Free Lunch 2019-09-10T00:00:00Z

I don’t know why, given how terrible I smelled after running laps or doing mountain climbers, or even playing Net Sports with overly aggressive players like Fatty Bolger and Chip Cusumano. Darius the Great Is Not Okay 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

Only sound besides Ernie’s snoring was about a million crickets, and a million frogs playing Pete and Repeat with the crickets. As Brave As You 2016-05-03T00:00:00Z

They were also playing more shows, to larger and larger crowds, almost every weekend. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

She comes to soccer games when he’s playing, too, even though she’s fuzzy on the rules of the game. Merci Suárez Changes Gears 2018-09-11T00:00:00Z

I wanted to think: Methuselah is playing a trick on me. The Poisonwood Bible 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

Considering how much I had loved my Barbies as a child, the thought of little girls, both Muslim and non-Muslim, playing with a Barbie who chooses to wear hijab made me so happy. Proud 2018-07-24T00:00:00Z

When you love something, either a game or playing a horn or whatever it is you do, after a while you know what it’s about. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

“You are a freak of nature, dude. I don't know what kind of game you are playing, but you better let me go right now.” Tradition 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z

But a brass player, without changing the length of the instrument, gets different notes by actually playing the harmonics of the instrument. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

For a moment, it feels like everything stops to watch as I reach in and pull out an old playing card. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

“I’ve been playing bridge twice a week for eleven years,” Eleanor said, “with my mother and her lawyer and his wife—I’m sure you must play as well as that.” The Haunting of Hill House 1959-10-01T00:00:00Z

When the Warriors were at bat, I went over to her bench and asked her if she felt like playing left field. Nine Stories 1953-04-06T00:00:00Z

“It will. Still, there are worse things than playing in the rain.” The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

I watched a lot of YouTube videos of cute geeky girls playing ’80s cover tunes on ukuleles. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

Ainsley is playing some video game, and the volume is turned down. Pride 2018-09-18T00:00:00Z

Dusk was beginning to set, and apart from the handful of teens playing basketball, Vickers Park was empty. The Parker Inheritance 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

The fact that I was not playing basketball anymore opened up the door to another opportunity for me. The Freedom Writers Diary 1999-10-12T00:00:00Z

Mom and Jack and Connor are playing along with the game, shouting and laughing and guessing the answers. The Sea in Winter 2021-01-05T00:00:00Z

They, of course, barely seemed to notice I wasn’t around, having been surrounded by cousins and friends and babysitters all day long, playing games in the hotel room and going on excursions around town. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

But most do not see a level playing field. Class Matters 2005-09-02T00:00:00Z

“I’m never playing this game again,” said Theo, sighing and returning to her homework. Made You Up 2015-05-19T00:00:00Z

The girl from Mr. Jackson’s class was playing Fern, and she carried a blanket in her arms, meant to represent the runt pig, Wilbur. George 2015-08-25T00:00:00Z

I started playing with the stones that lay under my feet. Because of Mr. Terupt 2010-10-11T00:00:00Z

They were sheepish, and the Salinas Band marched ahead of them, playing the “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and the families walking along beside them were crying, and the music sounded like a dirge. East of Eden 1952-09-01T00:00:00Z

Little Arliss was right out there in the yard, playing with the speckled pup. Old Yeller 1956-01-01T00:00:00Z

One day they are playing chicken on Mr. Benny’s roof. The House on Mango Street 1984-01-01T00:00:00Z

Mario was the only one who noticed the break in the playing. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

“They’ve agreed you can join a team and start playing in competition with the adults, if you think you’re ready,” Frank said. Ugly 2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

“I don’t know. But I’m telling you, Coach ain’t playing,” Shannon said, flinging his bag up on his shoulder. All American Boys 2015-09-29T00:00:00Z

“You stay here. Rest. Sadna’s asking questions about where you and Pima went. I’m playing dumb, you know? Don’t want anyone else knowing what’s going on. Make sure they don’t make any trouble.” Ship Breaker 2010-05-01T00:00:00Z

We stopped our playing and followed him to the village. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier 2007-02-13T00:00:00Z

Having no nib, I was unable to write another word about ‘The Life Story of a Penny’, but I was made to finish it the next afternoon instead of playing games. Boy: Tales of a Childhood 1984-01-01T00:00:00Z

I had warned her against playing with him, but she always liked to feed him. Flowers for Algernon 1959-05-01T00:00:00Z

“You playing made me depressed,” I told him. The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

I leave it on Mr. Daniels’s desk: “I’m never reading after school or playing chess with you ever again. Not ever.” Fish in a Tree 2015-02-05T00:00:00Z

Our seats were three rows from the front, and I scanned the audience, only noticing a few familiar faces, the Queen of Neat theme song playing quietly in the background. Hope Springs 2021-08-10T00:00:00Z

She looked around again for Maisie and found her sitting over where the older boys were playing basketball. Eleanor & Park 2013-02-26T00:00:00Z

In the background, cartoons are playing, and I’m in my high chair, laughing and singing along with the characters. Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

Even from there, I could hear that Annette was playing something really fast and angry- sounding, which was like a perfect soundtrack for my mood. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I heard you playing the organ across the way,” Mrs. Hurd called. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

What if you could play as often and as long as you pleased and didn’t have to settle up until you were finished playing? Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. The First Rule of Punk 2017-08-22T00:00:00Z

He left it open for a minute, in spite of the bitter air, and leaned on the window seat, playing with the ears of his snow-leopard dæmon. The Amber Spyglass 2000-10-10T00:00:00Z

Now, he was playing idly with a small, plastic puzzle. I'm the King of the Castle 1970-09-03T00:00:00Z

“So no more playing is what you’re telling me,” I say. What If It's Us 2018-10-09T00:00:00Z

I couldn’t sleep that night because the house was too quiet without her music playing in the next room, so I went looking for Daddy. Odd One Out 2018-08-09T00:00:00Z

Their side had Gino and a couple of big guys playing fullback. Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

As much as Bobby wanted to play Euwe, the renowned doctor was just as intrigued by the prospect of playing the prodigy. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

My mother turns off the music playing from her cell phone, unfazed by my argument that the laundromat is a short walk from our apartment. The Sky at Our Feet 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

“Your city has been my fascination since I was five years old, playing Tizerkane in the orchard, and felt its name...plucked from my mind.” Strange the Dreamer 2017-03-28T00:00:00Z

Mong gave me a weird look like I had to be just playing, but I wasn’t. We Were Here 2009-10-05T00:00:00Z

Chris is on the bottom bleacher, playing one of his mixes on his phone for them to dance to. The Hate U Give 2017-02-28T00:00:00Z

We walk down the bright cobblestoned street, past other apartments and children playing soccer, and stores selling ripe fruit and raw meat and shiny cookware and colorful cans of food. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

Horace said angrily, “You watch it, Trask. You’re playing pretty close to the edge and I don’t like what I’m thinking. You must know why she went away.” East of Eden 1952-09-01T00:00:00Z

They take turns leaning forward to point out their moves with shrewd congeniality, playing it like a chess match, the kind of game that allows civilized men to play at make-believe murder. The Poisonwood Bible 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

He enjoyed playing over what are called miniature games, short encounters of usually twenty moves or less, as if they were musical exercises, works of art unto themselves, usually with only one pervasive idea. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

A few days ago, while I was playing hopscotch with my friends, a boy came over and tried to lift up my skirt. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

I determined then to put every ounce of effort and ability I had into playing the part, so that she would not be disappointed in me. The Shakespeare Stealer 1998-05-01T00:00:00Z

He always kept things low key before a race, and the boys spent the morning dozing, playing cards, and shooting the bull. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics 2014-05-27T00:00:00Z

A young woman leapt out of a doorway a little ahead of Winston, grabbed up a tiny child playing in a puddle, whipped her apron around it, and leapt back again, all in one movement. 1984 1949-06-08T00:00:00Z

Papa and Maria by the fireplace, playing viola and piano; a warm dinner, sweet mint iced tea in my glass. What the Night Sings 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

When Leopard saw Goat’s children playing in the grass, her heart was filled with hatred for them. The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa 2004-12-07T00:00:00Z

A horde of children scampered over the cobbles, playing incomprehensible games with chalk. The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge 2018-09-25T00:00:00Z

For some reason, playing the hymns had made me feel sad, as if I were homesick even though I was at home. Z for Zachariah 1976-07-29T00:00:00Z

Funny thing: As the tape was playing, the grown-ups watched the tape. Silent To The Bone 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

It was obviously pointless playing mind games with this human. Artemis Fowl 2001-04-26T00:00:00Z

“Well, pretend like we are just playing out in the pasture at Marshall.” Life Is So Good 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

“The only thing I really know about New York is what’s playing on Broadway, y’know? Did you read they’re doing a revival of Into the Woods where all the actors play their own instruments?” Better Nate Than Ever 2013-02-05T00:00:00Z

By now Felicia had stopped playing the piano. The House of the Scorpion 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Like bridge you had to pretend you were playing for money or playing for some stakes. A Farewell To Arms 1929-09-02T00:00:00Z

He wasn’t playing tetherball like he normally was. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

The half-dozen men there playing pool turned around at the sound of Feather’s voice. Song of Solomon 1977-01-01T00:00:00Z

I let Vega pick them since he would be the one playing them the most. The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

Emmett wasn’t the biggest kid, but he was the best at playing their game. Mississippi Trial, 1955 2002-05-27T00:00:00Z

Though the waltz was playing, those not dancing quieted themselves as the mysterious masked girl lifted her skirts and took a step, then another. Throne of Glass 2012-08-07T00:00:00Z

A few of the girls began playing jump rope with an old piece of clothesline. The Mark of Athena 2012-10-02T00:00:00Z

He indicated our grown son and daughter, playing dominoes, listening in on our secrets. In the Time of the Butterflies 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

Round with awe his eyes shone, like those of a little boy; he looks, she thought, as if he has been playing and now it’s time to give up and come home. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 1968-01-02T00:00:00Z

This is what you hear that allows you to recognize that it is a clarinet or horn that is playing. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

He paused playing his violin and told me, “Tchaikovsky.” The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

He stopped playing his guitar and the spell was broken. Because of Winn-Dixie 2000-03-01T00:00:00Z

The way he said it, with that look of warmth in his eyes, that smile playing on his lips. Five Feet Apart 2018-11-20T00:00:00Z

When Mami sees me all sweaty from playing hopscotch, she shakes her head. Lucky Broken Girl 2017-04-11T00:00:00Z

“Percy,” Chiron said quickly, “you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we’ll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening.” The Titan's Curse 2007-05-11T00:00:00Z

“Why, I thought everyone had. When you’re playing in your room and making a great amount of noise, what do they tell you to stop?” The Phantom Tollbooth 1961-09-01T00:00:00Z

Grandma promised if we cleaned our rooms and picked up our toys, she would help us make gingerbread cookies to eat before we began playing games. March Forward, Girl 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

Little kids out here playing, flying kites, having life. Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

A few days later, the gang and I were knee-deep in dirt, playing a game of marbles, when a barefoot girl with pigtails came running up to me. Full of Beans 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

He headed over to watch the little kids playing for a few minutes. Pax 2016-02-02T00:00:00Z

Somebody was playing loud music from a gramophone; soon, a cluster of men by the compound gate began to laugh and jostle one another, mimicking the song. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

I don’t know what game he’s playing, or what the point of rattling me is, especially now, before his execution. Insurgent 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z

Then another appeared, until there were a dozen, rolling around and playing in the dirt. The Titan's Curse 2007-05-11T00:00:00Z

I left them playing and went into my bedroom. The Battle of the Labyrinth 2008-05-06T00:00:00Z

Donna leans against the wall, still playing with Dray’s phone. American Street 2017-02-14T00:00:00Z

“I beg your pardon, Yollo. You need not look so pale, I was only playing with you. The Prince of Sorrows does not bestow his grey kiss lightly.” A Dance with Dragons 2011-07-12T00:00:00Z

Singer was at his table by the window playing a game of chess. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 1940-07-29T00:00:00Z

The Slow Club is playing, a band I like, all plucky and bittersweet and kind of offbeat. All The Bright Places 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

I quickly realized he relied on swiftness and ferocity to even the playing field. The City Beautiful 2021-10-05T00:00:00Z

I was more interested in the children who hung out playing games in between the fences. Dread Nation 2018-04-03T00:00:00Z

The children had stopped playing and now looked silently at the car, their arms behind their backs and their new over-sized overalls pulled tight over their little pot bellies as though they too were pregnant. Invisible Man 1952-01-01T00:00:00Z

Why spend all that time downloading a movie playing all over Chicago? Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was one of those fellows who was always sitting on the benches outside the general store in Bumblebee, playing checkers or sleeping. Stella by Starlight 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

“I also reminded him that winning a college scholarship isn’t the only reason we’re playing these games.” Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics 2016-01-05T00:00:00Z

“I never really like doing the things I’m supposed to like. I’m good at playing football. But the whole season feels like something I have to get through.” Dumplin' 2015-09-15T00:00:00Z

I turned over and curled up, and the pictures playing in my head now were better, not so violent or sucky. Feed 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Well, for about an hour we lounged on Constantin's balcony in two separate slingback chairs with the victrola playing and the balalaika records stacked between us. The Bell Jar 1963-01-14T00:00:00Z

Howard, playing them against Belmont, said he was open to any proposals. Seabiscuit: An American Legend 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

Near her, a skinny man in old jeans and a battered army jacket was playing the saxophone. Breadcrumbs 2011-09-27T00:00:00Z

Does someone who is five foot six have a realistic chance of playing professional basketball? Outliers 2008-11-18T00:00:00Z

Men playing their dominoes are gone, and someone’s come and untied that dog from its chain. Hurricane Child 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

I could lose myself playing with my dolls any day of the week, imagining a fabulous life for them with their cool clothes and ever-changing hairdos. Proud 2018-07-24T00:00:00Z

The smell of fried chicken cooking and the excitement of playing with the pet rabbit under the sink increased his pace. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates 2010-04-27T00:00:00Z

Every village had a pelota court and on some of them kids were playing in the hot sun. The Sun Also Rises 1926-10-22T00:00:00Z

Most—though not all—of them kept playing their sports. Drama High 2013-09-26T00:00:00Z

But I dawdled over it, playing a few bars and then cheating, looking up to see what notes followed. The Joy Luck Club 1989-01-01T00:00:00Z

Then he hopped down the steps working an imaginary fiddle under his chin to match the country tune that was playing. Out of Darkness 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z

“You’re playing the great game of kings and princes, of queens and crowns, aren’t you? Of course it matters. Everything matters.” The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

They have it all wrong, I told myself, I’m not a traitor or an Uncle Tom; if only they knew the true reason why I’m playing. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

She starts playing the song again and humming. What the Night Sings 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

I did not look up at those standing quietly on the ledge or at the flute player playing for them, but paddled fast out into the morning sea. Island of the Blue Dolphins 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

All he does is belch beer and scream at her to bring him and his buddies more while they sit around playing dominos or watching fights on TV. Bronx Masquerade 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

There was playing the organ, she said, and there was playing at the organ. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

I couldn’t run fast, but the teacher always allowed someone else to run for me if we were playing something like softball. Ugly 2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

“I thought he was playing sick. People are saying that he’s been kidnapped but I think that’s rather silly, don’t you?” The Secret History 1992-10-16T00:00:00Z

She smiled and leaned forward, playing with the edge of her bell-sleeved peasant top. When Dimple Met Rishi 2017-05-30T00:00:00Z

“He’s sitting on the floor behind me, playing video games,” Dr. Watson said. A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age 2014-09-23T00:00:00Z

We are playing that hand-slapping game, the one we like to play at recess. The Thing About Jellyfish 2015-09-22T00:00:00Z

“I thought you were playing ‘The Final Countdown.’” Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

Victor knows Delilah isn’t playing with his head. They Both Die at the End 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

I was at field hockey practice, and he was playing cricket.” Love, Hate & Other Filters 2018-01-16T00:00:00Z

When Jon entered, four builders were playing at tiles at the table nearest the steps. A Dance with Dragons 2011-07-12T00:00:00Z

“And then he ran off and left us to hide in that house like refugees while he galavanted around America, playing hero!” Hollow City 2014-01-14T00:00:00Z

“The little stream is delightfully clear and bright. I can fancy that there might be maidens playing near.” Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes 1942-01-01T00:00:00Z

After twenty minutes or so of playing around on my phone, I was ready to go back out to the party. Courage to Soar 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

I pulled the headphones from my ears and let them hang around my neck, the music still playing, a kind of muffled buzz emanating from me. The Miseducation of Cameron Post 2012-02-07T00:00:00Z

“A playing card? A credit card? What kind of card do you mean?” I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

Caroline, on the other hand, was playing Chopin by the time she was nine. Jacob Have I Loved 1980-01-01T00:00:00Z

I saw my father watching him from behind his steel-rimmed spectacles, the smile still playing around the corners of his lips. The Chosen 1967-04-28T00:00:00Z

“I don’t want no playing from you now.” Native Son 1940-03-01T00:00:00Z

By some miracle, on three occasions, he was able to coax the horse into playing the racing game. Seabiscuit: An American Legend 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

I think it’s like playing with a pretty little doll for them, but Ashley seems to like the attention. Out of My Mind 2010-03-09T00:00:00Z

“Are we playing with something dangerous? Time, I mean. Shouldn’t we just take off and go home?” The Martian Chronicles 1950-01-01T00:00:00Z

It was a foolish waste of time playing this game. The Last Last-Day-of-Summer 2019-04-02T00:00:00Z

It happened that one evening the boys were playing peewee, a new game to them, in the dooryard. East of Eden 1952-09-01T00:00:00Z

It was playing in the flapping of flags and awnings, in the rumble of distant traffic, the click of heels on the dry paving stones... The Graveyard Book 2008-09-30T00:00:00Z

The pilot puts on some more disco and says, “We’re playing your favorites until midnight! Drop by the cockpit and give me a request!” Ask the Passengers 2012-10-23T00:00:00Z

She wished things could just go on as they had been, the four of them in the woods, laughing and playing without a plan. Out of Darkness 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z

Anyway, his closest personal advisors were discouraging him from playing an active role in Washington. Big Science 2015-07-07T00:00:00Z

We were playing with other kids in the sunshine when all of a sudden we heard gunfire, and Nyanriak yelled at us, “You children, come here, come here!” Lost Boy, Lost Girl 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

Trying to reclaim the drama of his gambling days, my grandfather started playing the West Side numbers. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

He bought a violin and spent his evenings playing music in his apartment. Bomb 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

He had me curve my hand around an apple and keep that shape when playing chords. The Joy Luck Club 1989-01-01T00:00:00Z

Perhaps, had Pollard been on him, he would have felt the slight catch in the rhythm, like a playing card clicking against the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Seabiscuit: An American Legend 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

All around the playing field were corpses, lying head to toe in neat rows with just space enough for one person to walk between. The Dead and the Gone 2008-05-04T00:00:00Z

She started playing with the stones now, too. Because of Mr. Terupt 2010-10-11T00:00:00Z

Matthew nearly collided with a college-aged guy, who did a double take of Matthew’s shirt—the one with five diamond playing cards on it. Book Scavenger 2015-06-02T00:00:00Z

“Why can’t they hook the two jars up to each other and eliminate the middleman?” the artillery captain with whom Yossarian had stopped playing chess inquired. Catch-22 1961-11-10T00:00:00Z

Matthew nearly collided with a college-aged guy, who did a double take of Matthew’s shirt—the one with five diamond playing cards on it. Book Scavenger 2015-06-02T00:00:00Z

“I never said it’s me! The whole point is about playing into the stereotype.” On the Come Up 2019-02-05T00:00:00Z

On our street, cars are driving by with their windows down and music playing. A Soft Place to Land 2021-09-14T00:00:00Z

At first they took no notice of the farmer standing on the edge of their circle, and as his dazzled eyes adjusted to the light, he finally noticed the musicians playing along the sidelines. Ash 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

There was no way to win this game playing by the rules that had been set up so long ago. Beauty Queens 2011-05-24T00:00:00Z

He lifted his tail off the ground and held it at an angle and marched in time to the music the minstrels were playing on their guitars. The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread 2003-08-25T00:00:00Z

Luke loved playing it when he visited our holiday. Because of Mr. Terupt 2010-10-11T00:00:00Z

In die far corner, however, a group of men were playing cards. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

“Good shot, Jimmy!” the coach yelled as Jimmy started backing down the court on D. Behind us our band started playing. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

It’s some team from Puerto Rico playing basketball with some other team from Puerto Rico. Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish 2018-08-21T00:00:00Z

I stop playing when I hear the thunder of engines in the distance. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

"Who knows? Anyway, it was a pretty good insight into how unattractive science can get when you’re playing at a certain level." A Short History of Nearly Everything 2003-05-06T00:00:00Z

Miss Leefolt look out the window at the kids playing in the sprinkler. The Help 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z

In addition to my regular glasses, I have special goggles, prescription goggles, for playing sports. Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

And by the second night, she was playing board games With him every time she took a break while I did practice quizzes or writing assignments. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was only playing along until he could escape. Touching Spirit Bear 2001-01-09T00:00:00Z

Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

When was the last time I saw kids running and playing, not a care in the world? Dread Nation 2018-04-03T00:00:00Z

“I don’t want you playing any silly games on this river.” The God of Small Things 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

A bowl of pomegranates with ruby-red skin and some waxed-paper-wrapped peanut candies sat in one of Mama’s sweetgrass baskets on Doc’s worktable next to a deck of playing cards. Root Magic 2021-01-05T00:00:00Z

You can see the reaction playing out on people’s faces. Mockingjay 2010-08-24T00:00:00Z

When they realized the princess did not in fact hate them, Temp and Tick rallied and ran around playing tag with her. Gregor the Overlander 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

And that evening, while he was playing, a brown leaf, the first leaf of the fall, blew into the station and landed right next to the cricket cage. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

One day we are playing street crickets: it is like cockfights, small-scale. Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. The Sea of Monsters 2006-04-01T00:00:00Z

Several hundred yards beneath us on what had been an enormous playing field, there was now a huge city. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

He found his friends again near the concrete monkey barrels and started playing with them like he hadn’t missed a beat. Native Speaker 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

Then Robin kissed the top of Ivy’s head, and Ivy pulled back and wiped her face with her arm, and they went back to playing rummy. Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

A man of his age might seem too old to be playing Zorro, but then consider the source. The Poisonwood Bible 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

Dad is walking back and forth with Oliver in his arms and Eugene is playing on the floor with a pot and a spoon. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir 1996-09-05T00:00:00Z

His family made huge donations to the school, which translated to Will’s getting lots of playing time, even when he didn’t necessarily deserve it. Here to Stay 2018-09-08T00:00:00Z

I just never see him; he’s always off someplace or playing in the Zoo of Death. The Princess Bride 1973-11-01T00:00:00Z

He draws a blade, clearly no longer interested in playing politics. The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

Two are sleeping, and one is playing with its own tail. Shouting at the Rain 2019-05-07T00:00:00Z

I thought he was just playing around and being a little aggressive, but then he started yelling at me and calling me names. The Freedom Writers Diary 1999-10-12T00:00:00Z

It did not look good; the driver’s arms fanned lifeless over the top of the dashboard as though playing an invisible piano. 100 Sideways Miles 2014-09-02T00:00:00Z

But as a wizard he had learned the price of the game, which is the peril of losing one’s self, playing away the truth. A Wizard of Earthsea 1968-11-01T00:00:00Z

But after tea I was playing darts in the garage when the back door slammed open. Black Swan Green 2006-04-10T00:00:00Z

At a short distance, to my left, I saw several men and women picking strawberries on their knees and children playing near old, dusty cars parked at the edge of the field. Breaking Through 2001-08-27T00:00:00Z

He thought of the tiger cub growing stronger in her reserve, safe for now from poachers, playing with her brother and learning to hunt. Tiger Boy 2015-10-01T00:00:00Z

Slouched at the kitchen table, forcing him-self to sip Campbell’s Chicken Broth, he heard the voices and thought they were the sound of kids playing in the street. The Chocolate War 1974-01-01T00:00:00Z

“But we already found that same two hundreds number playing Bibliomania,” said Miguel. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library 2013-06-25T00:00:00Z

I wondered if it was wise to work up a sweat playing soccer/non-American football if you couldn’t hydrate after. Darius the Great Is Not Okay 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

I wondered if it helped his French horn playing to have such long fingers, like a pianist. The Line Tender 2019-04-16T00:00:00Z

On this head, are not the afternoons spent playing Corelli with my mother—afternoons defunct, now that her harpsichord was sold—do these not seem like the arts of idleness? The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

She read Dreams from My Father in a day and a half, sitting up on the couch, Nina Simone playing on Blaine’s iPod speaker. Americanah 2013-05-14T00:00:00Z

“Or watch. I just want to not be me. Whether it’s sleeping or playing video games or riding my bike or studying. Giving my brain up. That’s what’s important.” It’s Kind of a Funny Story 2006-04-02T00:00:00Z

The Carter contingent said it would only consider playing there if the Permian band, Pepettes, and student section were moved from their normal location on the visitor’s side to the home side. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

The movement of feet hustling through the streets of Newark matches the tip-tap of the Motown music playing inside. Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

I went to the office and looked up their records and found that most of them had spent their lives playing cheap vaudeville. Black Boy 1945-01-01T00:00:00Z

Jason studies the picture, headphones on, music playing. Rules 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z

But he doesn’t feel like playing, and I don’t know what I was thinking—that a line of poetry could make any of this better? Internment 2019-03-07T00:00:00Z

They pay attention to videos of cats playing pianos, or to which movie star is in rehab, or to who stole who else’s boyfriend. The Thing About Jellyfish 2015-09-22T00:00:00Z

Chief Heiserman made it a point to speak to the truant officer, who assured him that Cal not only had no record for playing hooky but actually was a very good student. East of Eden 1952-09-01T00:00:00Z

Everyone from all three groups started playing at roughly the same age, around five years old. Outliers 2008-11-18T00:00:00Z

The huge crowd was intimidating, and besides, he was used to playing electric music with his band. Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam 2018-04-10T00:00:00Z

It was midafternoon and I was playing, when something different happened. Crispin: The Cross of Lead 2002-06-01T00:00:00Z

A few old men sat on benches playing chess, and in the shady places some old people did tai-chi exercises. Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

Two guys are on the floor in front of her, playing a video game, and she’s surrounded by white girls who all have red plastic cups in their hands. Pride 2018-09-18T00:00:00Z

Like the guys from Buffalo we'd been playing against that day Guys I felt like I knew. Tradition 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z

She calls on Mr. Broken Train-Track Teeth, who is still playing around in the back of the class. Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

Everybody was a wild kid playing out on Saturday night—and she felt like the very wildest of all. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 1940-07-29T00:00:00Z

Suddenly he was there again, sitting in front of the A&P supermarket awning, playing the same songs on his accordion that he had always played, his black Labrador lying down in front of him. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

The sight of Bigwig—Bigwig of all rabbits—at the end of his tether, half unconscious, playing no part in this desperate exploit, lowered his courage still more. Watership Down: A Novel 1972-01-01T00:00:00Z

Some young people were out under the water oaks playing croquet Mr. Pontellier s two children were there—sturdy little fellows of four and five. The Awakening 1899-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was playing his first coffeehouse gig the next night. The Serpent King 2016-03-08T00:00:00Z

A boy was playing a harmonica, frail and lovely sound. The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War 1974-01-01T00:00:00Z

He started playing the same opening part that Mr. B had just played, but he honestly didn’t sound that good. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

A group of Amity girls in yellow and red sit in a circle on the cafeteria floor, playing some kind of hand-slapping game involving a rhyming song. Divergent 2011-04-25T00:00:00Z

"Judge Ford thought her clues were an insult, and she said something about playing a pawn in Westing's game. And she had a clipping of the obituary on her desk. This obituary." The Westing Game 1979-01-01T00:00:00Z

Madge stands up tall and slides her arm down, playing air trombone. Muffled 2020-10-27T00:00:00Z

The fellas and I sat around playing marbles. Full of Beans 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

We must have worn the record out playing each song over and over. P.S. Be Eleven 2013-05-21T00:00:00Z

And even then, how would a bunch of kids who had never played together compete with teams from Atlanta’s best soccer academies—teams that had been playing together for years? Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

She was concerned that he’d exhaust himself playing in a third tournament within two months. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Gabe and three of his big goony friends were playing poker at the table. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

It was better than playing the scales all the time...well, a little better. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1943-01-01T00:00:00Z

Some kids were playing around the little pots of flames. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 1940-07-29T00:00:00Z

We passed a juggler and a man playing a sweetly sad song on a mandolin. Willodeen 2021-09-07T00:00:00Z

A car was playing “Dixie” way too loud. The Lions of Little Rock 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

There were kids playing dodgeball with makeshift balls made of wadded-up plastic shopping bags, tied together with shoelaces—the same kinds of balls we played with as kids. How Dare the Sun Rise 2017-05-16T00:00:00Z

He looked upset and tense, and he kept playing with an earlock all the time we talked. The Chosen 1967-04-28T00:00:00Z

Of course the stands were going to be filled, but a few of those seats at every game were the seats we were all playing for. All American Boys 2015-09-29T00:00:00Z

The satyrs were playing their pipes in the strawberry fields, making the. plants grow with woodland magic. The Battle of the Labyrinth 2008-05-06T00:00:00Z

After trying college for a year, she earned money for her own airplane by playing softball. Women in Space 2014-02-01T00:00:00Z

I don’t claim to have been that great, but it would have been nice to carry a childhood dream of playing in the majors that most children have. Life Is So Good 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

Ellis is upstairs playing her music too loudly. Ask the Passengers 2012-10-23T00:00:00Z

He nodded, a small half smile playing at his lips. From Twinkle, with Love 2018-05-22T00:00:00Z

Well, to be accurate, cats enjoy playing with birds before killing them. 100 Sideways Miles 2014-09-02T00:00:00Z

He was wearing a fancy white uniform with gold fringe epaulets and a breast of medals like an actor playing a part. In the Time of the Butterflies 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

She was playing with her glass, running it along the table, smearing the water that had collected on it. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

“You need to see this on stage, Mr. Hoodhood. It’s playing at the Festival Theater on Valentine’s Day. Go see it.” The Wednesday Wars 2007-05-21T00:00:00Z

And to the right of them is a group of people playing a video game in the living room. Starfish 2017-09-26T00:00:00Z

On account of it was Sunday, there were only about three shows playing. The Catcher in the Rye 1951-07-16T00:00:00Z

“The baby was playing with her mother’s creams. She got some on her arm, and when she got near the candle, it caught her.” A Wish in the Dark 2020-03-24T00:00:00Z

But I was now on my eighth attempt, and I’d been playing for six hours straight. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

“They,” he said of the train riders, “like his playing.” Clayton Byrd Goes Underground 2017-05-09T00:00:00Z

We loved playing pirates, too, and talked all the time about how we’d grow up to be Navy SEALs. Red Kayak 2004-09-23T00:00:00Z

The room beyond the doorway comes into focus, the haze from a trio of half-dressed ladies sitting around a table smoking cigarillos and playing cards. Dread Nation 2018-04-03T00:00:00Z

I couldn’t believe I was playing for a team that had a chant like that. Tradition 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z

He had a big enough part as the doorman without playing the real-estate man as well. The Westing Game 1979-01-01T00:00:00Z

I know all about how he was angry and frustrated and lonely and heartbroken when he was run out of baseball, but when he was playing, he must’ve always been so scared. A High Five for Glenn Burke 2020-02-25T00:00:00Z

Even my mother, who generally steered clear of public appearances, always made her way down to the state floor anytime music was playing. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

At the moment, all four—dog, two little boys, and a girl—were playing there under a mild sky; she hoped they would be happy in the garden until the guests had gone. In Cold Blood 1966-01-01T00:00:00Z

For the first time, he seemed to realize that we weren’t playing by hippie rules. Schooled 2000-02-29T00:00:00Z

Any decent book on playing jazz, or any teacher familiar with jazz, will introduce the student to these chords and scales. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

In between nursing baby Etty, supervising the kitchen and nursery staffs, taking care of Charles, and playing with the older children, Emma read the draft. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

“Thought you been playing with some boys after school,” Daddy says, leaning back in his chair. Finding Langston 2018-08-14T00:00:00Z

We could hear the loudspeakers outside playing the Republic’s national pledge. Legend 2011-11-29T00:00:00Z

He was playing a fragment of a Beethoven concerto. Night 1955-01-01T00:00:00Z

The games were played in a small, high-ceilinged room at the end of the hallway, probably to limit the number of spectators, which had grown to several dozen while Bobby was playing the younger men. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Then she was alone in the church with the unseen organist who went on playing for his own pleasure. Atonement 2001-09-20T00:00:00Z

Obviously, the noble boy on the rooftop was playing just one more game with me. The Hunger Games 2008-09-14T00:00:00Z

If he were to win it, which, considering the way he was playing, was conceivable, then he would have proven that blacks had the ability to succeed—if allowed the opportunity. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

This time he had the slight advantage of playing with the white pieces, which allowed him to employ his favorite opening strategy. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Like Palmer, she was good at playing by herself. Wringer 1997-08-16T00:00:00Z

Kyle didn’t totally agree, but he was too excited about playing the game to say anything. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library 2013-06-25T00:00:00Z

Johnny could see that a group of them were playing at cards in the south parlor. Johnny Tremain 1943-01-01T00:00:00Z

I could hear them playing in the street outside. Dragonwings 1975-01-01T00:00:00Z

Their hands and arms got very dirty playing in the mud. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1943-01-01T00:00:00Z

We were playing stickball on 122nd Street, and a foul ball went up on the flat roof over the church vestibule. Bad Boy 2001-05-08T00:00:00Z

“Daddy, what’s happening down there? Why does your guitar playing sound so much better than normal? I’m scared. What did you do with my daddy?” The Serpent King 2016-03-08T00:00:00Z

To the point that I didn’t even feel like playing. We Were Here 2009-10-05T00:00:00Z

For some years now God has been a pal to us, practicing togetherness, and that causes the same emptiness a father does playing softball with his son. Travels with Charley in Search of America 1962-01-01T00:00:00Z

James turns his speakers on quietly, but I can hear that he’s playing the Strokes, and I nod in appreciation of his efforts. Sparrow 2017-10-10T00:00:00Z

"Hold on to me. The waves are just playing with you, Kabir. It's not that rough here today." Born Behind Bars 2021-09-07T00:00:00Z

Intriguingly, the chess tables crossed class barriers: One might find Wall Street bankers playing against homeless men from Skid Row, or Ivy Leaguers facing down high school dropouts. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

All of a sudden Miss Love hopped up like she’d sat on a pin, plopped herself down on the piano stool, and went to playing chords. Cold Sassy Tree 1984-11-02T00:00:00Z

“Maybe it didn’t stick very well, and then Rocket started playing with it—you know how he’s always carrying ponytail rubber bands away when Mom or I drop them on the floor?” The Strangers 2019-04-02T00:00:00Z

Sargon raised his paw and cuffed Mr. Georgiou lightly, like he was playing with a mouse, knocking the poor guy out cold. City of the Plague God 2021-01-12T00:00:00Z

There'd be music playing, and those rhythmic sounds would get inside me and make me want to dance the whole day. The Red Umbrella 2010-04-25T00:00:00Z

The guards sit across from the four boys, take out a deck of playing cards. The Boy Who Dared 2008-02-01T00:00:00Z

We were sitting outside the window one day, playing something—cards or jacks or marbles—and Jay said, “I wish Daddy was here.” Root Magic 2021-01-05T00:00:00Z

Darcy took up a book; Miss Bingley did the same; and Mrs. Hurst, principally occupied in playing with her bracelets and rings, joined now and then in her brother’s conversation with Miss Bennet. Pride and Prejudice 1813-01-28T00:00:00Z

I said laughing, playing it off because I was a little nervous. Bodega Dreams 2000-03-14T00:00:00Z

Her mind was a tornado of thoughts and questions and anxiety while she recorded herself playing the violin section of Paganini’s “Cantabile for Violin and Guitar” for the CD she was making for the Beiderman. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street 2017-10-03T00:00:00Z

I could see part of that brochure from where I sat: fresh-faced girls playing lacrosse, or cuddled in thick wool cardigans sipping cocoa in rooms filled with leather-bound books. The Miseducation of Cameron Post 2012-02-07T00:00:00Z

Armelio is playing solitaire in the back of the hall, by the smoking lounge. It’s Kind of a Funny Story 2006-04-02T00:00:00Z

Like yesterday before school when I was playing stuntman in the early morning. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

A few minutes later she watched Jessie slowly close her eyes, lulled to sleep by the violin playing and the warm air wrapping around her from the radiator. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street 2017-10-03T00:00:00Z

"I was playing chess with him in the game room, but he didn't know I knew." The Westing Game 1979-01-01T00:00:00Z

It felt good being there, with my half brother’s son, playing cards, the warmth of the sun patting the back of my neck. The Kite Runner 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

Maybe it’s my eyes playing tricks, or the moonlight, but the fog seems to be transforming. Catching Fire 2009-09-01T00:00:00Z

He had been playing on the freshman team and was hit head-on in a game against Baylor. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

Six or seven small children were playing outside; they dashed into the trailer when they saw our car pull up. Just Mercy 2014-10-21T00:00:00Z

Some jerk taped up in a safe room playing at life. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet 2007-04-30T00:00:00Z

I’m sure he was playing Louis in his mind. X: A Novel 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Christmas songs that had been playing since November hadn’t started to drive her crazy yet, either. Aru Shah and the End of Time 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

“You mean what about the Edith Piaf playing? I think it would be a great soundtrack for what you’re going to do.” Saints and Misfits 2017-06-13T00:00:00Z

I was returning home after a long afternoon of playing soccer at the stadium on Twelfth Avenue. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

As the oldest, Ashley helped out with Adria and me, getting us dressed, playing with us, and settling us down to sleep at night. Courage to Soar 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

And then he went right back to playing it. The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

We ride along with a scene of sunflowers and sunrise playing on the windows. Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

There, on Ninetieth and Columbus, were a dozen men playing touch football. The Dead and the Gone 2008-05-04T00:00:00Z

I didn’t know what to think or say about that, so I just sat there nodding, went back to watching the kids playing in the park. We Were Here 2009-10-05T00:00:00Z

Sometimes when the journalists see my brothers playing so freely, they ask if I am being robbed of a childhood by my campaign for children’s rights. Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World 2013-10-08T00:00:00Z

I think he was saying that my playing had helped him. Z for Zachariah 1976-07-29T00:00:00Z

It wasn’t easy, wanting something badly and playing it off like it didn’t matter. Clayton Byrd Goes Underground 2017-05-09T00:00:00Z

A long way along the table, Hermione was sitting alone, playing with her stew. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2005-07-16T00:00:00Z

But most guys just got all tense around Joey in normal social situations, like any time when we weren’t out on the pitch and bashing each others’ brains in playing rugby. Winger 2013-05-14T00:00:00Z

“Our luck is changing,” he’d said as they curled their hands around the steaming cups, feet dangling over a little bridge, the lights of the Stave playing over the water. Six of Crows 2015-09-29T00:00:00Z

“All I heard was my daughter playing music.” Muffled 2020-10-27T00:00:00Z

When he fell, his headphones were still playing music. Turtles All the Way Down 2017-10-10T00:00:00Z

Unlike Dad and Henry, who as they got older and had families became less music performers than music connoisseurs, Kerry stayed single and stayed faithful to his first love: playing music. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

At some point, Miss Lulu stopped playing the organ and just sat with her hands on the keys and looked at me. Louisiana's Way Home 2018-10-02T00:00:00Z

Dr. Stuart Margulies, a master, who was several years older than Bobby, said in retrospect, “I adored playing with Bobby, just adored it!” Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

I am playing a game opposite Madoc, and while I can spin out plans and schemes, if I can’t accurately guess his, I am sunk. The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

“Look, I’ve been playing basketball almost every day of my life for the past three years. I’ll be eighteen soon. He’s getting older. It’s time I started whipping him.” The Great Santini 1976-01-01T00:00:00Z

I last saw her over by the sushi bar, but then I started playing, and now, whoop! Genuine Fraud 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

But as time went on, Bobby just kept journeying more and more into himself, once again reading chess books and playing over games from the past. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

The sea horse and the mako shark whisked off and started playing something that looked like tag. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

“And I’m only playing ball if you spot me a few letters. You have M, O, and N.” Millionaires for the Month 2020-09-01T00:00:00Z

Maybe we were both playing roles just to get by. Boy21 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

We keep playing as Dylan goes on and on about which hot beverage he and Samantha should name their firstborn after, and I refuse to be Uncle Ben to any child named Cider. What If It's Us 2018-10-09T00:00:00Z

I was returning home from playing soccer when a neighbour accosted me by the gate and told me that there had been a bloody fight at my home. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

She could have been eighteen herself, just like the girl at the magazine rack, reading Collier’s and playing for time in the drugstore. Jazz 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

It’s like I’ve always had a painted musical sound track playing background to my life. Out of My Mind 2010-03-09T00:00:00Z

I was supposed to memorize the whole thing, playing the repeat parts twice to make the piece sound longer. The Joy Luck Club 1989-01-01T00:00:00Z

Mom points her phone at the poster of the person playing Rosie. A High Five for Glenn Burke 2020-02-25T00:00:00Z

I suppose there had been some confident belief in the rehabilitative effects of playing a good American team sport. 100 Sideways Miles 2014-09-02T00:00:00Z

There was a snack bar, where Mr. McDaniels was setting up a cake, and an organ in one corner, where old Mrs. Chapman, the piano teacher from down the street, was playing a polka. The Lions of Little Rock 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

I’m just as content playing darts as I am waiting for the bus. Beauty Queens 2011-05-24T00:00:00Z

I was messing with my house key and before long I had it in my mouth and I was playing a game. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

He said he kept playing basketball because his team had become a substitute for his family. A Very Large Expanse of Sea 2018-10-16T00:00:00Z

Without the sound of the engine Gogol can hear an opera playing faindy on someone’s Walkman. The Namesake 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

“Nothing is going to happen. Someone is playing with you.” When You Reach Me 2009-07-14T00:00:00Z

That’s what happened, except that at the same moment, Mr. Russell was downstairs playing that Copland piece again. Okay for Now 2011-04-05T00:00:00Z

But Erin has a real chance to make a good college team and earn a scholarship, which is another reason I love training and playing off-season b-ball so much: It’s a chance to help Erin. Boy21 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

“Now each group will perform alone. No talking when you’re not playing. Be respectful and listen.” Muffled 2020-10-27T00:00:00Z

There was only one movie playing, and as they waited in line to buy tickets Ophie couldn’t help but bounce a little in excitement. Ophie's Ghosts 2021-05-18T00:00:00Z

Both females, playing together, jumping over a log, batting an old pumpkin with their paws. The Lions of Little Rock 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

A bunch of kids were studying and playing board games in the first floor common area. Dactyl Hill Squad 2018-09-11T00:00:00Z

We started playing, but it wasn’t a great game. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

For her whole life, Nicole had been playing a part in a story shaped by everyone from her mother to her friends, even to her beloved auntie. Beauty Queens 2011-05-24T00:00:00Z

The cover art showed a yellow robot-like character playing a keyboard with his band behind him. The Line Tender 2019-04-16T00:00:00Z

He wished they could all go back to playing games. Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics 2016-01-05T00:00:00Z

Nick stops playing, but he hums and taps out a rhythm on the body of the guitar. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda 2015-03-25T00:00:00Z

He made like he was playing a violin. Flush 2005-09-13T00:00:00Z

One evening after the work is done, I find Julio off duty, leaning against the wall, playing a real guitar. Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

Neumann Two stands there with his new haircut, his fingers playing senseless trills on the stock of his rifle. All the Light We Cannot See 2014-05-06T00:00:00Z

At first nobody knew what to do, because we weren’t exactly all friends, and we also weren’t in second grade, so we weren’t going to start spontaneously running around and playing tag. The Science of Breakable Things 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

At one point, Dad and Adam stopped playing and I caught them whispering about something. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

There’s an awkward homecoming photo, and a cat playing in snow, and his dad and him holding rifles at a shooting range. A Heart in a Body in the World 2018-09-18T00:00:00Z

Randomness is not easy to obtain when playing cards, either, since shuffling a deck two or three times is not enough to destroy whatever order it might have. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z

Despite warnings that the American public would not accept a white man playing piano for a black singer, Anderson decided to return to America with her Finnish accompanist, Kosti Vehanen. The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights 2004-05-25T00:00:00Z

James and Richard have gotten hold of a deck of cards and are playing and laughing. Blood on the River 2006-05-04T00:00:00Z

To their right, the lighting trusses are going up quickly over the stage where Bea will be playing an £8,000-a-ticket concert with a live band and celebrity guests tonight, her first solo fund-raiser. Red, White & Royal Blue 2019-05-14T00:00:00Z

Its lower branches slumped to the ground, bent from the weight of kids who swung on them, playing cowboys and Indians. Breaking Through 2001-08-27T00:00:00Z

Hell, I’d probably still be at home playing video games or trying to talk myself into getting out of the apartment. They Both Die at the End 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

I was playing a cello solo from Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

I don’t want to be carried in a medevac chopper while guys you could be home playing ball with were banging on your chest, trying to get your heart beating again. Fallen Angels 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z

They were easily frustrated, and aside from Kanue—playing all out as usual—the players were walking and showing little intensity. Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

She pauses, looks up at the bright blue afternoon sky, rubs her chin, and says, “My reputation for playing ball? Yep. My reputation for playing guys? Nope.” Pride 2018-09-18T00:00:00Z

How do children experience music when playing or in leisure time activities? Music and the Child 2016-06-14T00:00:00Z

Under the cacophony of foreign tongues, he heard queer music playing from somewhere up ahead, a thin high fluting accompanied by drums. A Dance with Dragons 2011-07-12T00:00:00Z

I tell her Neutral Milk Hotel is playing at the Hideout and she says, "Who? What? You're hiding out?" Will Grayson, Will Grayson 2010-04-06T00:00:00Z

The Fifteens were likely to be beaten, which was the point; their reaction to playing a much better opponent would tell Luma a lot about their chances as a team. Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

The brass band, playing “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean,” marched and slammed back into town, and everyone took the day off. The Martian Chronicles 1950-01-01T00:00:00Z

Harp and Gully laugh, teasing about how weak Vega is for playing a Lego violin. The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

I look out in the opposite direction at a group of people playing kickball. Odd One Out 2018-08-09T00:00:00Z

“It’s too early in the morning, Daddy. I don’t feel like playing ‘Capitals.’” The Great Santini 1976-01-01T00:00:00Z

Usually it was full of kids playing ball, jumping rope, or swinging around the creaky jungle gym. Gregor the Overlander 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

“I don’t think they let you see the hockey rink when they’re not playing a game,” she said. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

I started playing him real loose and kept switching off on number 5, Trip’s man. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

Scared Aunt Loma might switch from Miss Effie Belle’s piano playing to my camping trip, I asked, “Why didn’t Miss Love play?” Cold Sassy Tree 1984-11-02T00:00:00Z

When we got to the school, our little brother was in the yard playing soccer with his friends. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier 2007-02-13T00:00:00Z

She couldn't help herself from imagining the notes of the plucking strings playing for dancing chickens. Counting by 7s 2013-08-29T00:00:00Z

Still, when we were finally done and she was playing happily by herself, I let myself cry for a minute. The Girl on the Train 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z

It was like the difference between playing college basketball and being drafted into the NBA. Proud 2018-07-24T00:00:00Z

The idea of playing Duke a little longer was terrifying. Dog Squad 2021-05-11T00:00:00Z

It was beginning to get dark.I was convinced she was playing the same game with me that I was playing with her, but I wasn’t going to fall for it. Winger 2013-05-14T00:00:00Z

In the living room, about half of the baseball team were taking drunken turns at playing an NFL video game on Blake’s parents’ wide-screen television. 100 Sideways Miles 2014-09-02T00:00:00Z

“Now, get on with you. A boy your age should be doing something worthwhile, ’stead of playing mumbly peg with sticks. My Side of the Mountain 1959-01-01T00:00:00Z

But right from the get-go, I could see that there was something different about playing my kind of music, something more than my parents’ obvious bewilderment with my classical tastes. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Noah gets up on his elbows too because it appears he’s playing Follow the Leader with Oscar. I'll Give You the Sun 2014-09-16T00:00:00Z

It reminds me of playing in the garden as a child, looking for frogs by the pond with Ben. The Girl on the Train 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z

His brother would be done playing his music, and everything could just be normal. Time Bomb 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

She seems like she’s playing a part—an extra from an old-school Disney cartoon or from a period movie set in the 1950s that called for secretaries. The Sun Is Also a Star 2016-11-01T00:00:00Z

Instead I walked down the hall to hang out with Max before the bell rang, listening to him go on and on about that phone game he was playing with Jared. Maybe He Just Likes You 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z

One time on maneuvers Billy was playing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” with music by Johann Sebastian Bach and words by Martin Luther. Slaughterhouse-Five 1969-01-01T00:00:00Z

The work of preservation demands that the feelings playing about in one’s guts not be turned into action. The Woman Warrior 1976-01-01T00:00:00Z

At this point the actor playing the head of the wolf peeked out through the mouth. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling 2011-01-25T00:00:00Z

“So you will listen,” he told me, playing with an earlock. The Chosen 1967-04-28T00:00:00Z

“You’re nothing but a bunch of stupid children playing grown-up. You have no idea how much worse things could get for all of us.” Internment 2019-03-07T00:00:00Z

Parslow the butler was kept busy clonking the mud off shoes as the children ran into the house from playing in the Sandwalk, riding ponies from the stable, having games of croquet and ball. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Within minutes the girls were playing house with Delsa and Norma, while I chased the boys up and down the alley, getting good and dirty. When I Was Puerto Rican 1993-09-20T00:00:00Z

Still, I don’t mind playing, just not all the time. Bronx Masquerade 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I do not see much sign of it. She is playing Robin Adair at this moment—his favourite.” Emma 1815-12-23T00:00:00Z

When Sam reached the bridge, Frightful was playing with 426, sliding and gliding on the winds at fifteen hundred feet. Frightful's Mountain 2001-05-21T00:00:00Z

At anything, including playing ball with Diego at the park or even writing this book. We Were Here 2009-10-05T00:00:00Z

When we got to the smithy, there was two kids playing out front of the shop. The Journey of Little Charlie 2018-01-30T00:00:00Z

Music is playing, a man singing songs in French. The Namesake 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

“The boy playing the tabla invited me to come with him. It’s my first time with that crowd, and the last. Here is the cinema. That must be your friend.” Homeless Bird 2000-03-01T00:00:00Z

The others were all squatting on the carpet and playing cards with Ida. The Thief Lord 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z

“That’s okay. We just want to keep playing and prove we’re really champions. Besides, I thought finding the missing books was supposed to be the twelfth game.” Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics 2016-01-05T00:00:00Z

They must have been audible from the kitchen, because the father called out "Perhaps the gendemen don't like the playing? It can be stopped at once." The Metamorphosis 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z

The kids had just come home from school, the TV was on, a stereo was playing—there was noise throughout the house. Zeitoun 2009-07-15T00:00:00Z

And though I hadn’t seen him, I didn’t doubt that silver-masked Tehlu was striding around the better neighborhoods, playing his part. The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

I mean, she was in high school going through the things high school girls go through, playing tennis and learning piano, and when Tateh was divorcing Mameh she got lost in all that. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

Would it be just me and John playing “The Final Countdown”? That would be awful! Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

It all started about the time a tough young New Orleans comet man named Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong climbed off a train in New York wearing clodhopper policemen’s shoes, and started playing with Fletcher Henderson. The Autobiography of Malcolm X 1965-01-01T00:00:00Z

By then everybody in the gym knew he was playing with the kid. We'll Fly Away 2018-05-08T00:00:00Z

So I pointed to the words again, then pointed to Mrs. Lovelace, who was playing some kind of jazz music on the CD player. Out of My Mind 2010-03-09T00:00:00Z

She was probably playing me, but that was all right; you do what you have to do to save a dog, and she was hitting the target perfectly. This Side of Wild 2015-09-29T00:00:00Z

I’d hear people laughing and playing and I’d get off my bike and creep up and peek over the wall and see a bunch of white kids splashing around in someone’s swimming pool. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

It was supposed to work out fine, with us playing one after the other, no matter who our teacher was. It All Comes Down to This 2017-07-11T00:00:00Z

Even if Sela was playing a double game, he needed the fox’s healing powers to regain his health and strength. Redwall 1986-10-23T00:00:00Z

“I think Aleef would be pretty good at taking attendance, or Grace, or—” I stopped talking because I realized no one was playing tetherball. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

I went into detail about driving fast and playing chicken in the beat-up car with no doors and seat belts. Three Little Words: A Memoir 2007-12-27T00:00:00Z

Somebody they have been waiting for is playing the piano. Jazz 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

There was a white man in a business suit and tie playing with some little device in his hands, one of those PalmPilot things, tapping the screen with a skinny pen. Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story 2016-06-28T00:00:00Z

In seasons past playing for Permian had involved other sacrifices. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

She greeted them with a baby at each breast, and Blanca playing at her feet. The House of the Spirits: A Novel 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

Beowulf knelt by the boy Hardred, who was playing with some blocks upon the floor. Beowulf: A New Telling 1968-01-01T00:00:00Z

Feynman sat on the hood of a jeep, playing bongos as people danced in the dirt streets. Bomb 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

I was playing for a draw with white, but Bobby played so badly that I achieved a winning position. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Just like how Vega’s does when he’s playing ’Ye. The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

I knew the lunchroom wasn’t a possibility; Hunter Schultz and some of his friends hung out there in the mornings, playing Magic cards until homeroom. Maybe He Just Likes You 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z

But it wouldn’t do, what with the romance I was playing out in the arena, to have my best friend be Gale. Catching Fire 2009-09-01T00:00:00Z

And for all he knew, she had friends nearby, or was just playing weak so that they’d walk away and leave her alone. The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin) 2012-08-14T00:00:00Z

Halfway through, three derelict men in suits also come out, one banging on top of a bin, the other playing violin, and the last also playing harmonica. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

And Mother shouted, “What in God’s name did you think you were playing at, saying those things to him?” The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

The other Arab went on playing, and both of them were watching every move Raymond made. The Stranger 1989-03-13T00:00:00Z

If genetic alterations could be “induced artificially,” he wrote, then heredity could no longer be considered the unique privilege of an “unreachable god playing pranks on us.” The Gene 2016-06-02T00:00:00Z

“Si, did you see Nick playing guitar outside the atrium?” Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda 2015-03-25T00:00:00Z

This included bending over a lot and sort of like playing air guitar. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

You could put a stack of records on it, and when one was finished playing, the needle arm automatically swung out and the next record dropped down with a happy slap. The Glass Castle 2005-03-01T00:00:00Z

But if my mind is playing tricks, isn’t it more likely to be the dream that’s illusory? The Girl on the Train 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z

Jennifer dropped to the ground and sat, arms crossed, a defiantly amused expression playing across her face. Beauty Queens 2011-05-24T00:00:00Z

Mrs. Walton stops playing the piano, and suddenly I feel a pair of icy eyes hawking me. Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

All he thought about, all he dreamed about, was playing for Permian. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

So even up at Oxford, other than playing her gramophone a little louder than she was permitted at home, she continued to lead the same small, tight life that she imagined she had escaped. The God of Small Things 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

Someone was playing a drum in the fight yard. Krik? Krak! 2015-12-15T00:00:00Z

Dying—rather than playing in the king’s game—was the only choice left to him. Throne of Glass 2012-08-07T00:00:00Z

Or is there a kind of cosmic fugue, with themes and counterpoints, dissonances and harmonies, a billion different voices playing the life music of the Galaxy? Cosmos 1980-01-01T00:00:00Z

He sat mutely for hours staring at the tube, playing video games; he seemed stoned or depressed almost beyond words. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I’m so used to playing with them that I’ll keep them on, if you don’t mind.” Mr. Popper's Penguins 1938-09-01T00:00:00Z

At each sat four or five patrons, some eating, some drinking, some playing at dice. The Shakespeare Stealer 1998-05-01T00:00:00Z

Inside the gate, boys ran around playing sports in the snow—in shorts. Bomb 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

The children stopped playing as if they sensed something too. The Last Olympian 2009-05-05T00:00:00Z

We are serious in the spook play, playing as we are. Native Speaker 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

That’s when I saw that the fat dude on their team was playing center. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

I slept under there, and when I woke up the sun was shining, the 'Hallelujah Chorus’ was playing on the radio, and people were still dancing.” Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa’s fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods. Little House in the Big Woods 1932-01-01T00:00:00Z

They didn’t know it, but Chester was playing the sextet in honor of the whole Bellini family. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

Although the song does have quite a few words, the refrain is repetitive with only three words, and provides two empty beats for clapping or playing an instrument. Music and the Child 2016-06-14T00:00:00Z

It crawls like a maggot into my head and gets stuck, unwelcome lyrics and music playing on a loop. Girl in the Blue Coat 2016-04-05T00:00:00Z

“Don’t let them tag us!” she says, as if we’re playing. Muffled 2020-10-27T00:00:00Z

“They’re playing with the clocks again,” said Montana, rising, preparing to put the baby into its crib. Slaughterhouse-Five 1969-01-01T00:00:00Z

In a curiously rambling farewell address, he accused cabinet members of a breach of trust, of ignoring him and of playing into the hands of the African National Congress. Long Walk to Freedom 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

I was in the midst of playing with two or three others at that point, but it was clear Ruth was addressing only me. Never Let Me Go 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

I continued playing but was unable to concentrate because I kept the corner of my eye on his restless hands, the elegant fingertips that danced against the pale blue fabric of his pants. When I Was Puerto Rican 1993-09-20T00:00:00Z

Twenty bats were wheeling around the cave, playing some kind of game of catch with Boots. Gregor the Overlander 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

With me it’s not like playing a game, it’s like the only time I’m being for real. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

We were playing Operation, only we couldn’t play it in the quilt fort because Erlan’s sister Ainyr was in there crying. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

He was playing the part of a dutiful young prince for the moment, while he waited for Lord Balon to reveal the fullness of his plans. A Clash of Kings 1998-11-16T00:00:00Z

Have you been playing board games with him every night instead of studying for school? Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I can’t. I’m not playing, I never do,” said Frank, dismayed at the sentimental predicament out of which he was to rescue the absurd couple. Little Women 1868-01-01T00:00:00Z

And I feel like a jerk for playing things up this way. Things Not Seen 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was always playing and laughing with me. How Dare the Sun Rise 2017-05-16T00:00:00Z

Jack said the person had found it playing Book Scavenger and thought it was Mr. Griswold’s next game. Book Scavenger 2015-06-02T00:00:00Z

The game not only engaged Bobby’s mind, it tempered his loneliness, and while playing, he felt more alive. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

To him, enormous changes had taken place since his own playing days. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

He take one of her playing cards and try to give her a bite of it. The Color Purple 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

The music started playing, but it was the song of a different generation, of a different country. The Red Umbrella 2010-04-25T00:00:00Z

I liked the game, but I did not enjoy playing with Carlos. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child 1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

She says we used to swear our heads off when we were kids, playing soccer in the backyard. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

Now that he wasn’t playing anymore, he found himself flunking three classes at the end of the second six-week grading period. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

The voices of children playing cricket in a nearby open field floated over to us. Amal Unbound 2018-05-08T00:00:00Z

Twenty-two minutes pass from the moment Renee begins playing with the computer program to the moment she says, “Ahhhh. That means something now.” Outliers 2008-11-18T00:00:00Z

It’s three in the morning, I’m playing the Proclaimers too loud for their own bloody good, and I’m pretty sure I have to go and kill someone. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

In New York the boys were always playing practical jokes on each other and pooling their food and clothes. Orphan Train 2013-04-02T00:00:00Z

He found them playing with the old glove Grayson had given him for Christmas. Maniac Magee 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

But why was he playing around with these childish names? Invisible Man 1952-01-01T00:00:00Z

Lynn walked me to my class line, where I stood on the number—Classroom #100—by myself All around me girls were playing and talking. Kira-Kira 2004-02-01T00:00:00Z

With savage scorn I’d refer to the ‘animals’ playing football or baseball. Hunger of Memory 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

I’d seen the papers and heard Holly’s mom and dad talking about a boy who got killed for playing with a toy gun. Harbor Me 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

Every Easter we had to perform at the New Brown Church, playing our instruments or reciting a story from the Bible for the entire church congregation. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

What if it’s my own mind playing games with me, and not Kalinda? Hurricane Child 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

“What game are you guys playing?” she asked. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

The next morning they went about their lives as usual, feeding Kehaar and themselves, playing and digging. Watership Down: A Novel 1972-01-01T00:00:00Z

To our right, teens were playing volleyball—with an actual net. The Darkest Minds 2012-12-18T00:00:00Z

During one Sunday visit Olmsted and the boys found four bands playing, refreshment stands open, and a few thousand people roaming the paths. The Devil in the White City 2003-02-11T00:00:00Z

For several seconds, Tommy stayed in a sort of trance, for all I know playing over in his mind one of these old fantasies of giving me back my lost tape. Never Let Me Go 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

Werner finds a state-sponsored station playing waltzes and sets the speaker in the open back door of the Opel so all can hear. All the Light We Cannot See 2014-05-06T00:00:00Z

I have told much about you to Farzana jan and Sohrab, about us growing up together and playing games and running in the streets. The Kite Runner 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

I put my headphones on and start playing “Q.U.E.E.N.” over and over until I can hear the bass and then more until I can hum it. Sparrow 2017-10-10T00:00:00Z

“You like playing lawn bowls, don’t you, Robert?” he asked. Ugly 2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

The Manhattan Chess Club was organized into four groups, based on playing strength. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

She was cooking coconut rice, her apartment thick with spices, a bottle of cheap merlot on her counter, and Nina Simone playing loudly on her CD. Americanah 2013-05-14T00:00:00Z

Some part of him was screaming, This is a trap, he is playing with you, the son is just the shadow of the father. A Dance with Dragons 2011-07-12T00:00:00Z

The man who was playing the mouth organ stopped and everyone else around the fire looked up at me. Bud, Not Buddy 1999-09-02T00:00:00Z

“I took painting classes at school and I liked it. It calms me a little. But playing music energizes me. Balance.” Pride 2018-09-18T00:00:00Z

Here are the same two people, with the same level of skill, playing exactly the same roles, and beginning almost exactly the same way. Blink 2005-01-11T00:00:00Z

There are books I will never finish reading, games I will never finish playing, movies that I’ve started and will never see the end of. Challenger Deep 2015-04-15T00:00:00Z

Central was playing its last football game of the season. The Lions of Little Rock 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

The glossy cover had a picture of a young boy playing fetch with his chocolate lab and the title You and Your Pet Living with Diabetes. Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence 2022-03-22T00:00:00Z

And it was his playing of the rumba that had made Tucker want to dance, and so tip over the matches. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

They were all eating and laughing and playing such tricks out of pure frolic as might be the marvel of a king’s court. A Wizard of Earthsea 1968-11-01T00:00:00Z

She went back to playing her colossal game of dots with Rand, and I concentrated on eating my ravioli. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

I didn’t even know she was playing guitar again. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda 2015-03-25T00:00:00Z

It’s one of those moments when it takes the brain a moment to catch up with the events playing out before your eyes—shock temporarily blocks the path. The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin) 2012-08-14T00:00:00Z

Perry, sitting on a straw suitcase, was playing a harmonica. In Cold Blood 1966-01-01T00:00:00Z

It was okay for a strange man to put a knife at my throat, but it wasn’t okay for us to speak to a little girl playing in the back of her house? The Night Diary 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

The strange thing is, after playing this poor fool farmer for a while I can’t help but feel sorry for him. The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War 1974-01-01T00:00:00Z

Ma had started playing her old chutney and calypso tunes. The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

If you don't like playing some of the chords in your new key, or if you have changed the key too much or not enough, try a different transposition. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

She knew what Ivan had told everyone: that they had been playing in the woods, and Sigurd had come stomping at them, and Anya had gotten lost in the woods running away from him. Anya and the Dragon 2019-09-24T00:00:00Z

And he quit playing because their subtle deferential treatment made him nervous. The Milagro Beanfield War 1974-01-01T00:00:00Z

But Scott de Martinville had no way of playing the recording back: running a stylus back over the indentations in the paper would destroy them. The Story of Music 2012-12-25T00:00:00Z

“Plus he wore an eye patch, which I’m assuming would have made playing tennis difficult. But his younger brother, Glenn, was a member of the team.” The Parker Inheritance 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

Music was playing, and someone had lit candles and stuffed them in divots around the rock, but they weren't strong enough to provide much light. Tradition 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z

He taught my mother the art of playing the harpsichord, and, when I was four or five, began to tutor me on the violin. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

The more I thought about it, the more the feeling grew in me that it was wrong; it was as if he were playing some kind of a trick on me. Z for Zachariah 1976-07-29T00:00:00Z

He couldn’t see how the mammoth walls could possibly be mobile—felt so sure of it he relaxed, thinking Chuck was just playing a trick on him. The Maze Runner 2009-10-06T00:00:00Z

Somewhere in the town someone was playing the piano and the music came and went, came and went, softly, drowsily. The Martian Chronicles 1950-01-01T00:00:00Z

Their shouts and bustling caused great confusion where before there had been only a few men and some girls playing with pieces of velvet and a woman singing. Song of Solomon 1977-01-01T00:00:00Z

She doesn’t care about anything except her life, her future, and playing hockey and getting into Bloomsburg and playing more hockey. Ask the Passengers 2012-10-23T00:00:00Z

The troops around him were eager, bright-faced; the bands were playing. The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War 1974-01-01T00:00:00Z

The stunned pause hadn’t finished playing itself out yet. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

She had only to stretch her neck or rise on some pretext to see twenty or forty undressed males lounging or playing ball in the sunlight. Catch-22 1961-11-10T00:00:00Z

So they regrouped all of their forces around ten adjacent instances of the Zork playing field near the planet’s south pole. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

The school is made up of several tall brick buildings that surround a playing field and a four-season swimming pool completely encased in glass. You Bring the Distant Near 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

He was, I think, deliberately playing up the idiosyncrasies of his personality. The Tipping Point 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

Normally I loved playing DJ at the record store, but for once it wasn’t getting me out of my sad mood. The First Rule of Punk 2017-08-22T00:00:00Z

She carried the gun to protect herself and had to use it once when, having climbed nine flights of stairs, she found some strangers playing cards at her kitchen table. Class Matters 2005-09-02T00:00:00Z

Chronicler felt himself go cold as he suddenly realized what a dangerous game he was playing. The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

There was a fanatical gleam in his eye, another smile playing on his lips. Made You Up 2015-05-19T00:00:00Z

He then turned to me and shouted, “As for you, if I ever see you playing with those Christian children, I’ll skin the hide off you!” Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

There was a picture playing called Baby, Take a Bow. Full of Beans 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I’m not playing for real. This is just for fun.” Keep It Together, Keiko Carter 2020-05-05T00:00:00Z

“It’s My Party” is playing and I search for something else. The Help 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z

The playing field was clearly uneven, both figuratively and literally. Me Talk Pretty One Day 2000-05-02T00:00:00Z

“What vicious trick is Fortuna playing on me now?” A Confederacy of Dunces 1980-01-01T00:00:00Z

He said the DJ was playing behind the bar. When I Was the Greatest 2014-01-07T00:00:00Z

She began to move away from me, visibly irritated, as if I were playing a prank. Educated 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

There were no street vendors here, nor prosperous merchants, only sullen wives emptying their slop jars into the street, sometimes missing the scrawny, shoeless children playing there, sometimes not. The Shakespeare Stealer 1998-05-01T00:00:00Z

We are playing West Charleston High School and they think they’re coming down here to trounce the hicks. The Great Santini 1976-01-01T00:00:00Z

The sounds and memories of my own childhood refugee camp came rushing back—children playing, pots banging. How Dare the Sun Rise 2017-05-16T00:00:00Z

And that’s where the rest of the boys and girls were playing, in the street. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

“Nineteen, thirty-one, twenty-seven, fourteen, thirty-nine. This week’s lucky numbers are ten, fourteen, nineteen, twenty-seven, thirty-one, thirty-nine. Thank you for playing Superlotto.” A Step from Heaven 2001-04-30T00:00:00Z

Jack and Connor are up ahead, playing an intense round of “I Spy.” The Sea in Winter 2021-01-05T00:00:00Z

“Is that Preacher Green’s sermon you’re playing on the radio?” she ask. The Help 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z

Ernie ignored him and went on playing with Samantha, so Genie decided to escape the beating sun and go back inside. As Brave As You 2016-05-03T00:00:00Z

I had not meant to start a contest of wills between my parents when I mentioned my dreams of playing the piano to Papi. When I Was Puerto Rican 1993-09-20T00:00:00Z

All that time while they were playing every day in his yard. The Egypt Game 1967-01-01T00:00:00Z

Only the man with the Captain's hat and the sign of the Phoenix on his hat, at last, curious, his playing cards in his thin hand, talked across the long room. Fahrenheit 451 1953-01-01T00:00:00Z

They were all innocents playing out their unsuspecting parts. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate 2009-05-12T00:00:00Z

My brothers are back in bed playing games under the overcoats but they jump when they see the bread. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir 1996-09-05T00:00:00Z

I knew my numbers in Quichua from playing market so much; I could even add and subtract and make change. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

That night at home Melanie brought up the subject of playing outdoors and got her parents started on an argument about it. The Egypt Game 1967-01-01T00:00:00Z

Next to her, Joaquin looked stricken, and he kept turning the envelope over and over, as if looking for another clue, as if he was playing Detectives, too. Far from the Tree 2017-10-03T00:00:00Z

There’s a sketchbook on his lap, and he’s playing music on his phone. A Soft Place to Land 2021-09-14T00:00:00Z

I don’t recall much about living with Shanon, but for some weird reason I do remember playing with a cat. Courage to Soar 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

And while he copied out all their various offenses and punishments, he wondered what was going on outside, where the match would have just started...Ginny playing Seeker against Cho... Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2005-07-16T00:00:00Z

I packed a bag of sour cream and onion chips that I found in our kitchen cabinet, an outdoor blanket for all of us to sit on, and a pack of playing cards. A Soft Place to Land 2021-09-14T00:00:00Z

Here, in mv house, holding my child, feeding her, changing her, playing with her while I was taking a nap. The Girl on the Train 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z

They both stop playing and stare at the door. Liar & Spy 2012-08-07T00:00:00Z

It sounded like the same music that Fred had been playing along with, the night I watched him from my window. The Line Tender 2019-04-16T00:00:00Z

I was standing on the sideline with Betty Bright and the other four kids who weren’t playing. Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

There was a snooker table in the basement of the Chelsea house and he’d often spent evenings playing against his uncle. Stormbreaker 2000-09-04T00:00:00Z

When they sit down at the table, the sound of his parents’ conversation is missing, as is the sound of the television in the living room, playing the news. The Namesake 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

There was no rivalry between them when they tried which could throw the discus farthest; they were only playing a game. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes 1942-01-01T00:00:00Z

We would not be set apart from our distinguished audience at all; instead, we would be playing practically in their royal laps. The Shakespeare Stealer 1998-05-01T00:00:00Z

They went down a street of shattered glass and broken tiles where children were playing and watching the soldiers go by. Atonement 2001-09-20T00:00:00Z

“We been playing kids and Gobblers for months, before you were, I bet. But I bet no one’s seen ’em.” The Golden Compass 1995-07-01T00:00:00Z

The radio was playing the “Blue Danube” waltz. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

There were the pups, rolling and playing in the warm sand. Where the Red Fern Grows 1961-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I’m so sick of playing chess. And my mom won’t say no to me helping people.” Amina's Song 2021-03-09T00:00:00Z

Remembering how many injuries I had sustained — and inflicted — playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated. Twilight 2005-10-05T00:00:00Z

Asriel was shouting, “What the hell do you think you were playing at?” The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage 2017-10-19T00:00:00Z

Well, where have they—I never wanted this thing and now it’s playing tricks on me. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 2016-07-31T00:00:00Z

Maybe Sparkle and everyone else will see me for who I am and for once I won't feel like this is some competition I'm losing before I've even begun playing. From Twinkle, with Love 2018-05-22T00:00:00Z

The lower-school kids have just had lunch, and now they’re outside playing in the small field, just the way we used to in fifth grade. Merci Suárez Changes Gears 2018-09-11T00:00:00Z

If there was a college basketball game playing on the TV in the evening, Barack came in sometimes to join them for a little while to watch. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

In baseball, I have a good arm and a bat, and I can field, but I am not interested in playing it after high school. 100 Sideways Miles 2014-09-02T00:00:00Z

When Connor finally brings Hector over to where I’m sitting, the old ladies are still playing peekaboo with him over Connor’s shoulder. The Benefits of Being an Octopus 2018-09-04T00:00:00Z

John, one night, was playing in a game I was in. The Autobiography of Malcolm X 1965-01-01T00:00:00Z

See some little kids playing on a little shopping cart that they got from Jewel Supermarket. Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

And then Billy was a middle-aged optometrist again, playing hacker’s golf this time—on a blazing summer Sunday morning. Slaughterhouse-Five 1969-01-01T00:00:00Z

He take one of her playing cards and try to give her a bite of it Sofia come over and lift him off. The Color Purple 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Object got up from the sofa where we were playing backgammon. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

None of the others follow, although, when we get inside, there are some women in gowns sitting on cushions and a piper playing a little tune. The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

I sang like Fern, “Lucy, Lucy goosey,” in time with the record playing. P.S. Be Eleven 2013-05-21T00:00:00Z

Together they chose a record with a picture on the front of a man named Duke Ellington playing the piano. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street 2017-10-03T00:00:00Z

Titters had begun at the way the girl playing Ismene was hamming it up. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

I was assisted by Mr. Festile, the induna at the Chamber of Mines, who was once again playing a fateful role in my life. Long Walk to Freedom 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

As Seabiscuit stepped onto the track, swinging his head left, then right, the fans erupted in a massive ovation, drowning out the bugler playing “Boots and Saddles.” Seabiscuit: An American Legend 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I know Coach O's got to be talking to you about playing football, too,” he continued. Tradition 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z

Transposing at sight means being able to read a part written in one key while playing it in another key. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

Sometimes when I was playing, I even saw the color blue. Maybe He Just Likes You 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z

Barefoot children were playing on the street, kicking a ragged ten­nis ball with a stick, and they stared when I pulled up and killed the engine. The Kite Runner 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

Rather, he was playing speed chess at a side table with several of the young masters, who congregated around him. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Check your transposition by playing it to see if it sounds right. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

“As soon as you finished playing. Before you’d even got your pipes.” The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

When Bernice and I arrived, Miss Lulu was playing the organ. Louisiana's Way Home 2018-10-02T00:00:00Z

Anything to keep his mind from playing out what could be happening with Toby and Jimmy. We'll Fly Away 2018-05-08T00:00:00Z

Here she was playing with some silly secret code at the very minute my fate for the resf of my life was being decided. Invisible Man 1952-01-01T00:00:00Z

My uncle was in the city, playing music with some friends of his from college. Harbor Me 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

“Nothing, you just have that little old granny look about you, to lull people into your trap of playing good cards!” It’s Kind of a Funny Story 2006-04-02T00:00:00Z

He was ranting at the TV and Bobby Gene and I were playing Battleship behind the couch. The Season of Styx Malone 2018-10-16T00:00:00Z

They were crazy actors playing to a crazy audience. Travels with Charley in Search of America 1962-01-01T00:00:00Z

Even if different people are singing or playing different parts, it is not necessarily considered counterpoint if the parts are not independent enough, or if one of the parts is very clearly a dominating melody. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

But sometimes when Uhmma is tired of playing sleep, she stops hiding. A Step from Heaven 2001-04-30T00:00:00Z

And Bunny Corcoran had a habit of playing John Philip Sousa march tunes in his room, at full volume, late at night. The Secret History 1992-10-16T00:00:00Z

I looked up at the half smile on Fred’s face, wondering whether he still had liked playing patriotic songs with Mr. P, while he was listening to experimental jazz upstairs in his room. The Line Tender 2019-04-16T00:00:00Z

In Hamburg, we had to play for eight hours, so we really had to find a new way of playing. Outliers 2008-11-18T00:00:00Z

They were playing the riau-riau music, the pipes shrill and the drums pounding, and behind them came the men and boys dancing. The Sun Also Rises 1926-10-22T00:00:00Z

Noah and I ate while playing a video game together. Turtles All the Way Down 2017-10-10T00:00:00Z

They even showed me on camera once, when we were playing musical plates, except my face was blurred out, so you couldn’t tell it was me if you didn’t know. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

On the screen he dove into the end zone for the touchdown, impossibly small to be playing football, five eight and 135 pounds. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

Marina stayed behind with the other squadron, entertaining them by playing the village school piano and reading them poetry. A Thousand Sisters 2019-01-22T00:00:00Z

Even so, I still thought about maybe skipping the poem and just playing a piece on my sax. Bronx Masquerade 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards. A Farewell To Arms 1929-09-02T00:00:00Z

Each green was divided into playing strips about 5 yards wide and 32 yards long. Ugly 2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

In the dusk were five little foxes, playing together. Miracles on Maple Hill 1956-08-01T00:00:00Z

Abu’s love and passion for football was passed down to my brother, with Qareeb playing football from a really young age in Pop Warner youth football programs, a local league for young boys. Proud 2018-07-24T00:00:00Z

When they were not actually playing in some theater, or traveling on trains between cities, their life was spent in the larger hotels. Mr. Popper's Penguins 1938-09-01T00:00:00Z

I kind of wished Dad wasn’t playing Rook. Darius the Great Is Not Okay 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

There were lots of kids from the other schools walking around by the food trucks, playing the carnival games, or just hanging out. Wonder 2012-02-14T00:00:00Z

He was talking about going right to the major leagues and playing pro ball while Kitty went to school. 145th Street: Short Stories 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

Usually my father won; he had been playing the game for many years and had the benefit of experience. Z for Zachariah 1976-07-29T00:00:00Z

It was risky meeting him while Audrey was playing detective, but I wanted to see him, especially since I’d turned down his offer for the weekend. We Are the Ants 2016-01-19T00:00:00Z

Turning towards him, “What were you playing this afternoon?” the girl on his left enquired. Brave New World 1932-01-01T00:00:00Z

Isagol, reaching into your soul and playing your emotions like a harp. Strange the Dreamer 2017-03-28T00:00:00Z

He had been playing up until now, when he had finally finished his song. The Stars Beneath Our Feet 2017-09-19T00:00:00Z

“Let’s go hang with him. He’s playing basketball. Let’s go watch.” Saints and Misfits 2017-06-13T00:00:00Z

Nico opens another box and starts to demonstrate by playing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” using the keyboard, and it sounds exactly like a saxophone. Amina's Song 2021-03-09T00:00:00Z

Then again, maybe he was just playing it cool—he was in the gym that day. Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

I became distracted at this point because Jeffrey had walked over to Joey and started playing the game Memory with him. Because of Mr. Terupt 2010-10-11T00:00:00Z

“I wasn’t reading. I was playing a game.” The Parker Inheritance 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

At a corner table two whiskery ranch hands were playing checkers. In Cold Blood 1966-01-01T00:00:00Z

Right now, he’s packing his suitcase and playing “No Woman, No Cry” by Bob Marley. The Sun Is Also a Star 2016-11-01T00:00:00Z

“He thinks you’re more interested in showing off your stuff than playing with the team.” Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

I stopped playing, and hoped my unease did not show. Crispin: The Cross of Lead 2002-06-01T00:00:00Z

He was shy in high school, but then he started playing drums and freshman year of college joined a punk band, and boom, girlfriends. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

I gathered up as much as I could and took it to my room, but by the time I got back, Will and Leroy were playing catch with my softball and had already smudged it. Three Little Words: A Memoir 2007-12-27T00:00:00Z

We might go on and on playing draughts and things, he might change, we might be friends. I'm the King of the Castle 1970-09-03T00:00:00Z

After playing some Italian songs, Miss Bingley varied the charm by a lively Scotch air; and soon afterwards Mr. Darcy, drawing near Elizabeth, said to her— Pride and Prejudice 1813-01-28T00:00:00Z

The scene fades, but from that time Norma spent all her free moments with her friends, or playing alone in her room. Flowers for Algernon 1959-05-01T00:00:00Z

I was very nervous, especially because in the show, Rocky has to touch Janet all over her body, and Sam was playing Janet. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 1999-02-01T00:00:00Z

Beyond, in a clearing overlooking the river, they came upon a boy and a girl playing at knights. A Game of Thrones 1997-08-04T00:00:00Z

When the curly-haired girl found her, V was sitting on the girl’s perfectly made bed, playing her oboe. A Tangle of Knots 2013-02-05T00:00:00Z

But I am playing the role of a faithful Attendant, so I school my expression to blankness. Dread Nation 2018-04-03T00:00:00Z

Frony and T. P. were playing in the dirt by the door. The Sound and the Fury 1929-01-01T00:00:00Z

We ride in silence apart from the nineties hip-hop mix he’s got playing, and I’m panicking a little—I hate surprises—but the smell of his cologne is definitely helping. Odd One Out 2018-08-09T00:00:00Z

She watched the words separate inside the skull—baby lingered and flitted from the memory centers to the imaginative structures to the places where the brain enjoys playing with pleasing-sounding words. The Girl Who Drank the Moon 2016-08-09T00:00:00Z

He and Ahmed were playing in the yard this evening after the sun went down, and they tried unsuccessfully to get Zohra and me to join them. Amina's Song 2021-03-09T00:00:00Z

Cuban music started playing, and someone brought out snacks. Full of Beans 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

I reckoned there must be a million minor dramas playing out around the place without ceasing. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate 2009-05-12T00:00:00Z

For instance, playing Ping-Pong on the train, one would find that the ball obeyed Newton’s laws just like a ball on a table by the track. A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I go to private school now, but I grew up playing ball.” Black Brother, Black Brother 2020-03-03T00:00:00Z

Even when he was playing against them, people viewed Frankie as a hero. Time Bomb 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

I was hoping it would be empty, but there was a group playing pool. We Are the Ants 2016-01-19T00:00:00Z

Nobody came to the door, but the music was playing loudly. Ceremony: 1977-03-01T00:00:00Z

Of course, Bobby was obsessed with chess and spent hours playing and studying it, but perhaps not any more than musical prodigies practice their craft. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

“These men have come to take him to circumcision school,” my father declared, a smile of deep satisfaction playing on his lips. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

It sounded as if someone a long way off were playing a toy piano. Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures 2013-09-24T00:00:00Z

Henry and Abram’s bed is crammed into our small tent as well, but the two of them are still out playing cards with the sailors. Blood on the River 2006-05-04T00:00:00Z

Near the gate, Baby was on her knees playing in the sand while Ugwu watched her. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

Painting, trying to figure out what would come next, playing recreational hoops and video games, and forming a new friendship, with Briana Bishop. A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age 2014-09-23T00:00:00Z

We had been playing a lot of Scrabble at Red Gate. We Were Liars 2014-05-13T00:00:00Z

“I guess you’ve got sort of used to playing around with those explorers at the Pole.” Mr. Popper's Penguins 1938-09-01T00:00:00Z

I stayed there for months playing back every minute of our time together, watching it like I watched the movies, trying to make sense of the days we buried squandering love. Dreaming in Cuban 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

My final year playing slow pitch, I was nine. Fast Pitch 2021-08-31T00:00:00Z

He has often taken babies that were crying from their mothers, and it would hardly be any time until he had them sound asleep or playing as happily as little ones can.” The Devil in the White City 2003-02-11T00:00:00Z

Except I’m not playing the same tracks over. X: A Novel 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z

Suddenly, the Depeche Mode cover band starts playing “Enjoy the Silence,” one of my favorite songs ever. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter 2017-10-17T00:00:00Z

Old men were sitting on milk crates and playing dominoes. Bodega Dreams 2000-03-14T00:00:00Z

Liam hopped on the counter and started playing with a Zippo lighter, flipping it open and spinning it in his hand so it closed. Book Scavenger 2015-06-02T00:00:00Z

As did his lead actress and the boy playing John Wilkes Booth and, louder than all of them, Anna Archie. The Last Last-Day-of-Summer 2019-04-02T00:00:00Z

Imagine how frustrating it would be to end that tune without singing the last note or playing the final chord. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

I stopped playing, the half-finished melody still running through my head. The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

The countryside was striking from here, a deep green sweep of playing fields and bordering shrubbery, with the school stadium white and miniature-looking across the river. A Separate Peace 1959-01-01T00:00:00Z

Once in a while, Papa’s words “but we’re broke too” entered my mind, but I pushed them out with fantasies of playing with my very own ball. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child 1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

“We’re playing a good game, but we need to elevate our effort,” he said. Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

“The librarian found me a book about playing in the symphony and another about Berklee!” Muffled 2020-10-27T00:00:00Z

“I don’t know how to explain it,” she says of her passion for playing. A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age 2014-09-23T00:00:00Z

The giants were playing ball with the BFG, vying with each other to see who could throw him the highest. The BFG 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

Wearily Chester crossed his wings into the position for playing. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

He gradually spent more time playing with his two older brothers. My Life with the Chimpanzees 1988-03-01T00:00:00Z

He said someone must be playing a trick on me. The Old Willis Place 2004-09-20T00:00:00Z

Babe Ruth was a pitcher then playing for Boston. A Farewell To Arms 1929-09-02T00:00:00Z

It takes some imagining, but finally I see myself playing H.O.R.S.E. with Erin as the sun sets through the trees and the stars poke through the endless sky above. Boy21 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

He starts playing some kind of fight song and I can see the runners' faces lift, their arms pumping at their sides determinedly. The Sky at Our Feet 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

Nine hours ago I was playing in Green Acres. Ghost Boys 2018-04-17T00:00:00Z

These honked high, low, high, low, over and over, like a demented musician playing his favorite two notes. Typical American 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z

It never occurred to me to ask why Papa finally stopped playing in the orchestra. What the Night Sings 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

Nana was playing show tunes on a weathered piano while a pair of older men—one a gravelly baritone and the other a timeless tenor—sang along. We Are the Ants 2016-01-19T00:00:00Z

They spent the afternoon playing with Boots, trying to make each other eat and often, without any particular reason, reaching out to touch each other. Gregor the Overlander 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

“Had a bad night, kid. Comes from playing ball. Never could see anything in chasing a ball around.” The Chosen 1967-04-28T00:00:00Z

“Two sucres,” my cousin Zoyla said, holding forth two leaves, grudgingly playing along. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

In one hour, Helena stands at the gate to the ghetto, playing with her ball, the note in her pocket, and I am at my post beside the old ice cream shack. The Light in Hidden Places 2020-03-03T00:00:00Z

So while Theo is playing contentedly in the garden with his sisters, we draw a tinge of melancholy into his countenance, a slight frown, a worried brow. Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers 2017-04-18T00:00:00Z

Just because I'm playing for the other team doesn’t mean that I’m this pathetic human being who's begging to be loved. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe 2012-02-21T00:00:00Z

“It could be like a good luck charm,” Grandma agreed, the church music playing low on the radio. As Brave As You 2016-05-03T00:00:00Z

Kaede toys with her like a cat playing with her food before lashing out again with her fist. Legend 2011-11-29T00:00:00Z

She stops playing immediately and hops down from the crate. The Sun Is Also a Star 2016-11-01T00:00:00Z

The country’s ten thousand dead had gone unmoumed and uneulogized while the boys went on singing English songs and playing cricket, moved only by reports that reached them, three weeks late, from the British Isles. The House of the Spirits: A Novel 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

He told his dad about track and school and playing his saxophone at Carnegie Hall. Gregor the Overlander 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

When we near it, I see some boys playing cricket. Born Behind Bars 2021-09-07T00:00:00Z

I wonder if they, too, have received playing cards and firearms in their letter boxes or if they’ve had their own specific tools provided. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

“It’s also not controlled. Anyone can go there and play, so unsupervised kids are out there playing. Unsupervised adults are out there playing. And it’s not a healthy environment for kids.” Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

“Besides, a guy who starts playing solitaire in jail is just asking to get depressed.” Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel 1994-09-12T00:00:00Z

According to my mother, as a younger man Southside had made a point of pumping jazz into his seven children, often waking everyone at sunrise by playing one of his records at full blast. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

I tuck the pencil I was using behind my ear, playing it cool. Five Feet Apart 2018-11-20T00:00:00Z

After a while he switched to more of a Spanish- style, fingerpicking type of playing. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

A record was playing on the old Victrola. The Marvels 2015-09-15T00:00:00Z

It is a habit of hers from their childhood to buy rainbow clothes for herself so none of the girls can accuse her of playing favorites. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents 1991-01-04T00:00:00Z

He instructed me to return the next day for our rehearsal and exhorted me to find clothes better suited to playing before the premier citizens in the Colony. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves 2009-10-13T00:00:00Z

The really amazing thing is, they are the most popular people in the school, while everybody thinks I'm a freak for being online and playing computer games. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

Spooky funeral music keeps playing on the radio. Before We Were Free 2002-08-13T00:00:00Z

He was drawing out the inevitable, a predator playing with his meal before eating it. Throne of Glass 2012-08-07T00:00:00Z

When we get back to the neighborhood, Ava and June are playing hopscotch. Lucky Broken Girl 2017-04-11T00:00:00Z

Everybody talking over each other and the music still playing and crowds of people rushing in from the backyard to see. We Were Here 2009-10-05T00:00:00Z

Instead of immediately responding, Brandon began playing with the hem of his T-shirt. The Parker Inheritance 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

I am playing hide-and-seek with the Divergent, but I’m not the only person who’s “it.” Insurgent 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z

Whereas bebop took from Christian’s playing style the inspiration of his free-flowing solos, rock and roll took the sound of his accompanying - ‘rhythm’ - guitar grooves. The Story of Music 2012-12-25T00:00:00Z

He was more than a block away, coming up from the playing field with a group of his friends. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

The same man that play the killer is playing the priest. The Color Purple 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

The first half was instrumental, with only a horn playing the melody, and then a woman started singing along in the second half. From the Desk of Zoe Washington 2020-01-14T00:00:00Z

“Who is the article playing for us upon the fiddle?” The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves 2009-10-13T00:00:00Z

“Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr., if you can stop playing with those fool cars long enough to milk the cow, I’d be most appreciative. Miss Bessie don’t take no holiday, even if you do.” Bridge to Terabithia 1997-10-21T00:00:00Z

Lillian Woodward played the hymn like a dirge, and there is nothing like playing a march like a dirge to irritate a congregation. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

“Old Man Rawlins? Quit playing—he don’t even sound like a boxer. What was his record?” Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky 2019-10-15T00:00:00Z

She picked up her fork and started playing with her food. Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel 2011-09-15T00:00:00Z

And Steady Eddie took his time to show me how to hold my lips and how to put my fingers like I was really playing a pretend saxophone. Bud, Not Buddy 1999-09-02T00:00:00Z

But then, said, 'No. No, you had really much better be playing cricket in the sun, Edmund, something of that sort. I'm the King of the Castle 1970-09-03T00:00:00Z

In the background the news is playing, and the sizzle of something cooking in the kitchen perfumes the entire house. Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

I didn’t think I was playing that kind of game at all. The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

I pretended I was holding a bugle and started playing that “Day Is Done . . .” song that they play at funerals. The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

The nearest she could get to the image in the newspaper was playing missionary and native with Jasmine. The Underground Railroad: A Novel 2016-08-02T00:00:00Z

One of the girls in yellow was playing the piano and beside her stood a tall, red haired young lady from a famous chorus, engaged in song. The Great Gatsby 1925-04-10T00:00:00Z

A band came by, playing an incoherent song, fifes and bugles. The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War 1974-01-01T00:00:00Z

I heard a number of sounds layered behind him—drums, a keyboard playing cosmic notes, and something low, like a saxophone. The Line Tender 2019-04-16T00:00:00Z

But of all the culturally sophisticated ancient civilisations that were playing and enjoying music in this period, there is one group that emerges head and shoulders above the rest. The Story of Music 2012-12-25T00:00:00Z

She’d been playing for some time with her back to him. Throne of Glass 2012-08-07T00:00:00Z

“He was playing ball with his cousins out in the street. Luckily, he was not seriously hurt, but it scared us.” Breaking Through 2001-08-27T00:00:00Z

The boy should be in school, in a home, playing with neighborhood kids. The Maze Runner 2009-10-06T00:00:00Z

A song by Kill Le Goose started playing, one of Seven’s favorites to get her pumped before a test, and the lighting in the stadium went darker. Witchlings 2022-04-05T00:00:00Z

“Between going to school, playing ball, and trying to get paid once in a while the time gets away.” Slam! 1996-11-01T00:00:00Z

Just behind the Coalwood float, the Big Creek band marched, with me proudly playing the snare drum, one of five drummers in a line. October Sky 1999-04-01T00:00:00Z

Miss Throckmorton'd been playing Hangman on the blackboard one afternoon with sunlight streaming in. Black Swan Green 2006-04-10T00:00:00Z

Mom finally put her foot down and insisted it was okay for me to quit, scuttling Stephen Kellner’s dreams of me playing professional soccer before they even made it out of dry dock. Darius the Great Is Not Okay 2018-08-28T00:00:00Z

Roshan is playing a game and streaming himself live on his social channels. Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

They shouldn’t be here, but taking risks is the name of the game today and I’m playing it. They Both Die at the End 2017-09-05T00:00:00Z

She shook her head, playing with the fringes of my scarf. Auggie & Me 2015-07-20T00:00:00Z

At the bottom of a smaller tank, two Nereids—female sea spirits—sat cross-legged, facing each other, playing a game of Go Fish. The Mark of Athena 2012-10-02T00:00:00Z

It all came together, playing out like a movie in my head. Hollow City 2014-01-14T00:00:00Z

Apollo sighed and went back to playing his ukulele. Blood of Olympus 2014-10-07T00:00:00Z

He immediately begins playing air guitar and singing a song that I don’t know. Everything, Everything 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z

It didn’t seem to matter who was playing, man or woman, whether he was watching the match live or on television, or how well he knew the person serving. Blink 2005-01-11T00:00:00Z

Dozens of avatars were locked in fierce combat on a multitiered playing field behind him. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

Now, I don’t know why, but the sight of the twins playing makes me angry. Merci Suárez Changes Gears 2018-09-11T00:00:00Z

He was fighting the serpent, playing it, letting it exhaust itself thrashing and pulling. Norse Mythology 2017-02-07T00:00:00Z

There are no children playing cricket in the alleys. Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World 2013-10-08T00:00:00Z

In seasons past, playing for Permian had meant routinely vomiting during the grueling off-season workouts inside the hot and sweaty weight room. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo’s cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. The Lightning Thief 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z

It was a kind of paradise, free from cars and full of kids playing softball and jumping double Dutch or sitting on stoops, just hanging out. Becoming 2018-11-13T00:00:00Z

Clusters of girls were closer to the road, playing oga and swell, clapping rhythmically as they hopped first on one leg and then the other. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

Shock and awe were already playing on the night skies over Baghdad by the time my mom unplugged the television. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet 2007-04-30T00:00:00Z

“Well, if you lot are playing hooky today, no way I’m going to work. It’s simply not right.” If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Even though the movie was still playing, people were whispering about it in the dark. Wonder 2012-02-14T00:00:00Z

They’ve formed a circle, playing some sort of game—as if this were a time for fun and games. Dry 2018-10-02T00:00:00Z

During the day the soldiers walked through the torrents in the streets with their pant legs rolled up, playing with boats with the children. One Hundred Years of Solitude 1967-05-30T00:00:00Z

Then once, towards the end of an afternoon break, a group of us were sitting on the grass quite close to the South Playing Field where the boys, as usual, were playing their football. Never Let Me Go 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

The playing fields were optimistically green and empty before us. A Separate Peace 1959-01-01T00:00:00Z

I delighted in playing with Thembi, bathing him and feeding him, and putting him to bed with a little story. Long Walk to Freedom 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

I shrugged, and she hissed, “I’m not staying in this house and playing marbles with Peach Pit all afternoon!” Each Little Bird That Sings 2005-03-01T00:00:00Z

Remembering what I’d been told, I, still playing music, headed straight for the church, too. Crispin: The Cross of Lead 2002-06-01T00:00:00Z

Melissa and Kelly laughed at the playing monkeys, shuddered past the slithering snakes, cooed at the baby grizzly bears, and stared at the tigers’ teeth. George 2015-08-25T00:00:00Z

I don’t care about anything except playing ball again. Al Capone Does My Shirts 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

We were still calmly, numbly reading Virgil and playing tag in the river farther downstream. A Separate Peace 1959-01-01T00:00:00Z

It turned out that the Soviet team would be playing for the first time on United States soil. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

I don't even think he knows any more when he's playing right or not. The Catcher in the Rye 1951-07-16T00:00:00Z

I thought about a baby rabbit that our dog, Moody Blue, caught and carried around—she was not actually lunching on the rabbit, just playing. Walk Two Moons 1994-06-30T00:00:00Z

And maybe the knowledge that she was playing him broke his heart as well as his mind. Dread Nation 2018-04-03T00:00:00Z

Our childhood in Africa had been different from that of most American kids, so it took Mia and me a while to get used to playing with them. Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z

I sit here playing cards, and the image of her is splayed across the table. I Am the Messenger 2002-01-10T00:00:00Z

He reveled in playing the Sean Penn role in his own version of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, but beneath all that was a witty, personable kid. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

A record shop was playing loud High Life music, and she slowed a little to hum along to Bobby Benson’s “Taxi Driver” before hurrying on to her uncle’s stall. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

He came sidling out of the stable, dancing and playing. Johnny Tremain 1943-01-01T00:00:00Z

And if so, why had he stopped playing tennis? The Parker Inheritance 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

I could not go on sitting there, playing with my hair-brush, letting her see how much I feared and mistrusted her. Rebecca 1938-08-01T00:00:00Z

As he watched her across the garden, playing tag at a slow pace because she had Furball in her side bag, the solution came to him. The House of the Scorpion 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Boys were playing football in different teams on the same field, so that multiple balls flew in the air; Olanna wondered how they could tell which ball was which. Half of a Yellow Sun 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

A girl playing basketball had jumped for the hoop and stayed caught in the air, fingers still gripping the ball. Aru Shah and the End of Time 2018-03-27T00:00:00Z

Imagine walking around in that world—interacting, playing, talking. Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

They could hear the wind playing the chimes that hung just outside the front door. A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age 2014-09-23T00:00:00Z

He loved to see them playing with his birthday present. Wringer 1997-08-16T00:00:00Z

Señor Diaz walked through a set of red curtains into a small back room where a man sat playing a solitary game of cards. Lupita Mañana 1981-03-21T00:00:00Z

When I come out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, Finch has music playing on the old turntable. All The Bright Places 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

He copied Shaw’s exuberant, off-balance stance, as if being blown backward by the force of his own playing. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

“I can’t. I’m playing in a string quartet at some professor’s house. What about next weekend?” If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Grover Underwood and a team of satyrs danced around with their panpipes, playing harmonies so dissonant that the earthen-shelled ghosts cracked apart. Blood of Olympus 2014-10-07T00:00:00Z

He’d been staring straight ahead and into the trees, but the jungle was playing tricks on him now. Beasts of Prey 2021-09-28T00:00:00Z

Although these instruments are quite similar, the viola has a noticeably "deeper" and the violin a noticeably "brighter" sound that is not simply a matter of the violin playing higher notes. Understanding Basic Music Theory 2018-01-28T00:00:00Z

And then the lights would dim, and the violins would start playing, and I take her face between my hands ... oh, jeez. Things Not Seen 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

We walked over to watch the dudes playing ball on that famous beach court, right there between the walkway and the sand. We Were Here 2009-10-05T00:00:00Z

I didn’t know what the other guy was playing for, maybe just bragging rights. The Kite Runner 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

With Bobby, Fine wanted to first gain the boy’s trust and respect by playing chess, and then begin classical Freudian analysis, in tandem with the group process. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

It was a while before anyone noticed he was playing “Shoo, Fly.” The Devil in the White City 2003-02-11T00:00:00Z

She didn’t read from her novel as she traveled across the country so much as she acted it out, playing each character with such skill that she turned her readings into performances. The Tipping Point 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

She forced her mind to split into two parts—one intensely focused on her task, one playing the role Sciron needed to see. The House of Hades 2013-10-08T00:00:00Z

We stopped swimming and playing there, but we still had to wade in to fill our cans with water. Lost Boy, Lost Girl 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

Lifting the latch of a gate, we passed direct into a little garden overlooking the river, where Mr. Pocket’s children were playing about. Great Expectations 1861-08-01T00:00:00Z

We were playing poker for seashells, and Erlan had more shells than me, but not a lot more. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

When the violin started playing, they became attentive, got up, and went on tiptoe to the hall door, at which they remained standing pressed up against one another. The Metamorphosis 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z

‘You fellows have been playing with your cyclotrons for four years. It’s time you got back to work.’ Big Science 2015-07-07T00:00:00Z

She would cough through the playing to remind them of the potential of the moment, and shake her head at the frailty of human flesh. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 2004-05-24T00:00:00Z

The loudspeakers are playing a horrible mix of pop songs from when I was in elementary school. Starfish 2017-09-26T00:00:00Z

When the sun dropped low behind the hills and we were done playing for the day, Hassan and I parted ways. The Kite Runner 2003-05-01T00:00:00Z

I was used to crowd noise from playing football, but I never experienced anything like this. Schooled 2000-02-29T00:00:00Z

“I remember her dancing in the living room with Grandpa a lot. I remember she was always playing records on Dad’s old stereo.” A Mango-Shaped Space 2003-04-16T00:00:00Z

Black children in rags were playing in mud puddles. Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I am negotiating for what is, essentially, a used playing field,” Widget continues. The Night Circus 2011-09-13T00:00:00Z

It struck him that the man’s whole life was playing a part, and that he felt it to be dangerous to drop his assumed personality even for a moment. 1984 1949-06-08T00:00:00Z

Just outside the beech hanger, Hyzenthlay’s litter of four young rabbits were playing in the grass. Watership Down: A Novel 1972-01-01T00:00:00Z

So it went, back and forth, Ralph playing at husband, Helen at wife. Typical American 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z

The quad was on a slope, and a lot of them were running down it very fast, bunched up together, playing jets. I'm the King of the Castle 1970-09-03T00:00:00Z

It did the same thing that playing the piano had done when he was frightened and lonely. The House of the Scorpion 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Then I pulled up a map of the game’s playing field and placed it in the corner of my display. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

A video was playing on a television hooked up in a comer of the store: a row of young women in harem pants were thrusting their hips in synchrony on a beach. Interpreter of Maladies 1999-05-22T00:00:00Z

“I was just playing them some music. It makes them happy.” Because of Winn-Dixie 2000-03-01T00:00:00Z

The boy had already burnt his fingers playing games with matches. Inkheart 2003-09-23T00:00:00Z

I could not believe that there had been music stands in the minstrels' gallery, and a band playing there, a man with a fiddle, a man with a drum. Rebecca 1938-08-01T00:00:00Z

One boy was throwing a button against the wall, playing some kind of game. The Secret Life of Bees 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Marita doesn’t need a brand-new school with acres of playing fields and gleaming facilities. Outliers 2008-11-18T00:00:00Z

We would never let things get so out of control that a bunch of drunks ruined the hall where we were playing. The Name of the Wind 2007-03-27T00:00:00Z

Anybody who wanted to play could sign up and they were guaranteed at least a quarter of playing time. We Were Here 2009-10-05T00:00:00Z

He dreamed of being an actor or a singer; he reenacted TV shows at the dinner table, playing every part, his bright smile practically jumping through his lips. Tuesdays with Morrie 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

From playing at Gobblers she had turned to hunting them, for what could be more likely than that they were lurking out of sight below the ground? The Golden Compass 1995-07-01T00:00:00Z

“I wanted to have fun. It’s supposed to be fun,” I tell her, playing the disobedient daughter for all it’s worth. The Cruel Prince 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

Imagining that I must have been nearby, playing in the sand or lying on a blanket. We Are Okay 2017-02-14T00:00:00Z

Her voice was oddly flat, but maybe she was playing it cool. Far from the Tree 2017-10-03T00:00:00Z

Fern, suddenly back from playing “mission control,” said in Ma Charles’s voice, “Don’t you call her a liar.” Gone Crazy in Alabama 2015-04-21T00:00:00Z

They’ve liked each other since sixth grade, and if your feelings can survive the awkwardness of middle school you should stop playing around and go out. The Hate U Give 2017-02-28T00:00:00Z

Behind him would race six others, and the first boy there would be the Musician, playing the white xylophone bones beneath the outer covering of black flakes. The Martian Chronicles 1950-01-01T00:00:00Z

Julia plops down on my beanbag chair and starts playing with the rough seam that always scratches you whenever you move. A Good Kind of Trouble 2019-03-12T00:00:00Z

My father told me having Natalie as a sister is like playing ball when you’re 100 times better than your opponent. Al Capone Does My Shirts 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

He was acting like everything was normal, like this was a regular Sunday with us hanging out together on the porch, playing go fish or spit. From the Desk of Zoe Washington 2020-01-14T00:00:00Z

“I’m not playing. And two, that would be totally uncool.” A Good Kind of Trouble 2019-03-12T00:00:00Z

Or I imitated Otis tapping his pointy-toed boots and playing for all the animals, and that always made her laugh. Because of Winn-Dixie 2000-03-01T00:00:00Z

Later that day, me and Howard sat on the Odoms’ front porch steps watching Wishbone and Cotton playing in the sprinkler. Wish 2016-08-30T00:00:00Z

To whites across the state of Texas, Dallas Carter was a nogood bunch of cheaters who didn’t deserve the honor of playing for a state championship. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

That means my sisters and brothers are probably off somewhere playing tag, even though Deacon Boyd has fussed at them at least three times now. Betty Before X 2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

About ten o’clock Mario began to yawn and they stopped playing. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

They never looked away from the screen, though commercials were playing now. Twilight 2005-10-05T00:00:00Z

When he done, I skip over Pastor Green playing his sermon and stop on WBLA. The Help 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z

Still, Will was playing left back and he was actually running around and chasing the ball. All American Boys 2015-09-29T00:00:00Z

As usual, playing with Lego lasted only so long. Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

Jeffrey was still playing with Joey, as well as a couple of other kids now. Because of Mr. Terupt 2010-10-11T00:00:00Z

Before the clock was set in motion for the first game, Bobby was receiving criticism for even considering playing in a war-ravaged country. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

“What do you think you’re playing at?” he shouted, and before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets 1998-07-02T00:00:00Z

There was an awkward silence until Mom said, “So ... how is it playing against these boys?” Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

On that evening masters were performing in rotation, one playing for about an hour, followed by another who’d take his place. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

“Nobody we knew ever played chess and we never saw anyone playing it,” Fischer would later write. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

“Are you guys playing some kind of game?” How to Disappear Completely 2020-04-28T00:00:00Z

I’d found my sporting home—on a team—and not playing any of the sports I originally thought I would. Ugly 2013-08-20T00:00:00Z

She also tried to stop us from playing war. Tasting the Sky 2007-02-20T00:00:00Z

Why would she walk that far, if she was just playing, rocking the baby? Jazz 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

Quinn slipped a photograph from its envelope, turned it like a playing card, and skidded it across the desk. East of Eden 1952-09-01T00:00:00Z

A village of Oompa-Loompas, with tiny houses and streets and hundreds of Oompa-Loompa children no more than four inches high playing in the streets.... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 1964-09-12T00:00:00Z

“Gabriel,” cried Aunt Florence, “ain’t you done playing the fool for tonight?” Go Tell It on the Mountain 1953-05-18T00:00:00Z

“I’ll tell you one thing,” Hilly says, “I won’t be hiring that rock-and-roll band again, playing all that fast dance music...” The Help 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z

The dialogue seemed natural, almost as if they were still playing. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Her daughter Etty later said that Emma’s piano playing clearly reflected her character: She played with a fine, crisp touch, with intelligence and simplicity. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

She had this meditation track playing, the word om hummed over and over. Burning Blue 2012-10-25T00:00:00Z

“Just be extra careful when you’re outside playing or going to and from school.” Root Magic 2021-01-05T00:00:00Z

He stared at her, wondering if she was playing with him. Bone Gap 2015-03-03T00:00:00Z

He wanted to be out playing basketball or something. Feed 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

She began playing around with different possibilities for how to solve the puzzle—she rearranged their order; she drew them combined with one another like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Book Scavenger 2015-06-02T00:00:00Z

If you pull up in the projects with a fancy car, you better be playing some New Edition, Whodini, or DJ Kool Here. Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

He put in the second-team offense and defense, but their hapless playing gnawed at him. Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

By the time the sun came up, full up over the lake and brought them warmth, Brian felt like he’d been hit by a truck while playing in a puddle. The River 1991-06-01T00:00:00Z

In the tape, she’s playing with a software program designed to teach algebra. Outliers 2008-11-18T00:00:00Z

We’ve used up all our paper playing hangman, and my pencil is down to a nub. Orphan Island 2017-05-30T00:00:00Z

“No, I’m not playing a girl’s part. It’s a part from The Tempest,” I said. The Wednesday Wars 2007-05-21T00:00:00Z

This phrase, like level playing field, is getting overworked. Woe Is I 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

Verwoerd declared that those supporting the strike, including sympathetic newspapers, were “playing with fire,” an ominous declaration given the ruthlessness of the state. Long Walk to Freedom 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

Sorrento and his underlings had probably just teleported to one of the other playing fields. Ready Player One: A Novel 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z

When I was fourteen, my mother took up two new hobbies: riding a bicycle and playing piano. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother 1995-01-01T00:00:00Z

Hooper was playing with the silver cardboard model of the fort, rolling the marble down and letting it drop through the chute, over and over again. I'm the King of the Castle 1970-09-03T00:00:00Z

“Oh. Um, yeah. Songs from movie soundtracks. The Jurassic Park theme song was playing,” I say. A Soft Place to Land 2021-09-14T00:00:00Z

We were busy looking at the buildings and all the people hurrying by when we suddenly saw lights all over the place and shows playing on huge screens. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier 2007-02-13T00:00:00Z

“Yeah, but Russell was playing in the sixties,” Todd said. Here to Stay 2018-09-08T00:00:00Z

She looks down at her hands, where she’s playing with the charms of her bracelets. A Place at the Table 2020-08-11T00:00:00Z

They were sitting in the kitchen, playing cards. Eleanor & Park 2013-02-26T00:00:00Z

I asked him, since Candace was playing tetherball now and couldn’t pound his back anymore. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

Nearly six years ago, before leaving for London, I had watched her die on that bed, had found her playing with her excrement in her final days. Interpreter of Maladies 1999-05-22T00:00:00Z

I couldn’t get to sleep, so I sat up playing my Game Boy and reading skateboard magazines. Flush 2005-09-13T00:00:00Z

They fell off Mark, rolling across the floor as if playing some kind of game. The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin) 2012-08-14T00:00:00Z

It had been more than a few days since I’d dropped it in the mailbox, before playing gin rummy with Mr. Scanlon. The Line Tender 2019-04-16T00:00:00Z

I stopped playing, took off my headphones, and jumped up. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

I smile to see Mama playing with her lovely granddaughters. The Ugly One 2013-06-11T00:00:00Z

At seven, she began playing the trombone, and when she was grown, she played jazz in bands that had never allowed a woman trombonist to perform with them before. Muffled 2020-10-27T00:00:00Z

It’s a great addition to the story, but I know I didn’t mention children running or playing in orchards. The Last Cuentista 2021-10-12T00:00:00Z

He passes the patio, where the four girls are playing Statues with their cousins. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents 1991-01-04T00:00:00Z

It is like a symphony musician who stops playing a piece on a hanging note and he cannot rest until he finishes the note. This Side of Wild 2015-09-29T00:00:00Z

Ten guys, the groom’s friends and family, led by a man playing the dhol, an Indian drum, begin to dance their way to the mandap. Love, Hate & Other Filters 2018-01-16T00:00:00Z

We don’t stop playing until the sky grows dark and loses all its blueness. Lucky Broken Girl 2017-04-11T00:00:00Z

Today we find out which teams are playing each other. Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

But I know Webb doesn’t care where the outfielders are playing, because if there’s a base hit, he’s sending Luis no matter what. A High Five for Glenn Burke 2020-02-25T00:00:00Z

Frozen and shrinking, I stand stunned onstage until the orchestra has finished the piece, Marschner coming to my aid and playing the melody I should be singing. What the Night Sings 2018-02-20T00:00:00Z

They were playing a game and it struck him that Derek did that—his whole life was that. The River 1991-06-01T00:00:00Z

His intensity seemed even greater than when he was playing a tournament or match game. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Quentin and Luster were playing in the dirt in front of T. P.’s house. The Sound and the Fury 1929-01-01T00:00:00Z

The finigonzon at the window, the old men playing backgammon, it seemed like they all watched me. Everything Sad Is Untrue 2020-08-25T00:00:00Z

It was late and the moon was playing hide-and-go-seek with some puffy dark clouds, making the woods and the shadows slide twixt different shades of gray. The Journey of Little Charlie 2018-01-30T00:00:00Z

Did he know what character he was playing at that moment? Blink 2005-01-11T00:00:00Z

After a moment, I could see the green ground below again, playing peekaboo with me through holes in the clouds. The Lions of Little Rock 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

She’s sitting at the kitchen table and holds up a handful of sample strips, splayed out like playing cards. The Help 2009-02-10T00:00:00Z

“If you want me to stop playing tennis with whites, I’ll do so right this minute.” Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography 1986-01-01T00:00:00Z

Residents fear that the shots migra agents fire into the air to get migrants to surrender could fall on a child playing outside. Enrique's Journey 2006-02-21T00:00:00Z

I’m playing in a big soccer tournament next week. Booked 2016-04-05T00:00:00Z

In a happy daze I float upstairs and lie on the red sofa feeling soft as gelatina, playing the scene over and over and over again in the darkness. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

She had spent hundreds of hours in the bakery with him, playing board games and working out puzzles. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street 2017-10-03T00:00:00Z

It was also where I was playing the most gigs, so to keep earning I naturally gravitated that way. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

“What are you playing at?” asked Liza, impatiently. The Graveyard Book 2008-09-30T00:00:00Z

Bailey added, “Yes. Close it. You’re supposed to be playing with our doll baby.” I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 1969-01-01T00:00:00Z

“A good number, especially for playing cards. But we may have to explain to Bo again that he can’t keep making up his own rules.” The Thief Lord 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z

There are two men beside him, one playing drums and the other one blowing a horn. Bud, Not Buddy 1999-09-02T00:00:00Z

Lily was staring at him, the same smile playing on her lips. We'll Fly Away 2018-05-08T00:00:00Z

I picture him better playing soccer, or dancing. Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The Titan's Curse 2007-05-11T00:00:00Z

One with her playing cards with some other old people. The Boy in the Black Suit 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

Two pencil stubs, one bent playing card, and a small ash tray. Mr. Popper's Penguins 1938-09-01T00:00:00Z

Whatever town we was playing in, we had to be ready to play when we got there. Life Is So Good 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

There’s a bar in the back, and some kind of hip-hop music playing, and waiters turning sideways to squeeze through the crowd with pints of beer and baskets of chicken wings. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda 2015-03-25T00:00:00Z

The twenty-first game commenced on August 31, and Fischer, playing black, conducted the endgame in stellar fashion; at adjournment it looked as though he could win. Endgame 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z

Are they old enough to remember anything of the time before, playing baseball, in jeans and sneakers, riding their bicycles? The Handmaid's Tale 1985-01-01T00:00:00Z

The last three pages of the album were devoted to boys in Greek tunics, crowned with laurel, playing among false Hellenic ruins, with chubby bottoms and heavy eyelashes—repulsive. The House of the Spirits: A Novel 1982-01-01T00:00:00Z

“It’s stupid. Why would they pay money for some dude to sit there and listen to me? I'm fine, you know, playing the guitar and writing dark poetry, haha.” A Heart in a Body in the World 2018-09-18T00:00:00Z

I suspected that I was really playing a game with myself and that they were taking part. Invisible Man 1952-01-01T00:00:00Z

Me and Erlan were playing poker on the bench while the other kids ran around screaming. Absolutely Almost 2014-06-01T00:00:00Z

The dog jumps from corner to corner, like he’s playing tag with invisible friends. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z

A rusty tin pipe ran from the corner of the roof down to the cistern where the children were playing. Sounder 1969-01-01T00:00:00Z

Once, when we were all little kids playing in an old quarry near our house, Red had called me over to see a butterfly he’d caught. The Lions of Little Rock 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

He’s in the game, but he’s not playing the game. Boy21 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

I strip, and flakes of skin the size of playing cards cling to the garments. Mockingjay 2010-08-24T00:00:00Z

Poppy joined in off-key as he stepped into the bathroom and Rafik pretended to be playing a trombone. Habibi 1997-10-01T00:00:00Z

Music from the jazz ensemble playing in the background, servers coming up to me every few seconds with a new offering. Piecing Me Together 2017-02-14T00:00:00Z

We were playing with confidence, and with the clock on our side. Tangerine 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z

June was out there waiting for us, sitting in an armless kitchen chair, playing her cello. The Secret Life of Bees 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Since I know she’s playing On the Track and we’re supposed to find each other, I think I’ll just hide until she comes back and say “Boo!” like she does when she finds me. On the Far Side of the Mountain 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

I could practically hear sad music playing in the background. Here to Stay 2018-09-08T00:00:00Z

I mean, didn’t you make a million dollars playing basketball? The Crossover 2014-03-18T00:00:00Z

“For all you know, there’s someone much better than me out there. Good teams have been ruined before now because Captains just kept playing the old faces, or letting in their friends...” Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2005-07-16T00:00:00Z

And she leaned over, just slightly, into the space between us, like we were playing that game that got us both so frustrated over the weekend. Winger 2013-05-14T00:00:00Z

It was being said that I loved playing “coast- to-coast Mr. Big Shot.” The Autobiography of Malcolm X 1965-01-01T00:00:00Z

I could see her mind working—suspicious at first, wondering what trick I was playing, then finally deciding I meant what I said. The Sea of Monsters 2006-04-01T00:00:00Z

They are thinking about going to a yard sale in the neighborhood one Saturday morning, playing Bengali songs on the stereo. The Namesake 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

Today Amil and I were playing chess when we heard people yelling outside. The Night Diary 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

Then he sets the beer down, repositions his guitar, and starts playing a melody so intricate, my eyes can’t keep up with his hands. Leah on the Offbeat 2018-04-24T00:00:00Z

His inscrutable expression became even more so at the sight of the two boys playing chess and the tiny girl with a squirrel in her lap. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling 2011-01-25T00:00:00Z

And I even told them about playing Helen Burns, which I hadn’t intended to tell them. Okay for Now 2011-04-05T00:00:00Z

I padded to the top of the stairs to listen, my fingers playing with the tassels of the scarf around my neck. Saints and Misfits 2017-06-13T00:00:00Z

Seanie and I ended up on opposite teams, playing sevens, which, like I said, is a much more wide-open and fast game with fewer pile-ups. Winger 2013-05-14T00:00:00Z

His tone was sharp, and I could tell he wasn't playing. Ghost 2016-08-30T00:00:00Z

She spent hours a day, sometimes all day, playing shooting games on the Xbox, either against her husband, or teaming up with him against other people they’d meet online. A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age 2014-09-23T00:00:00Z

Keep a list of desirable activities such as listening to CDs or playing music Bingo. Music and the Child 2016-06-14T00:00:00Z

In the drawing, she was standing on a green lawn that looked exactly like the yard she’d spent the past twelve years playing in and running through. Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World 2018-03-06T00:00:00Z

Around him the shouts and screams of children playing and running about echoed from the school’s brick walls, and a cold wind carried the noise away over Port Meadow. The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage 2017-10-19T00:00:00Z

People were playing music and dancing, children were running around, and there was that familiar good smell of cooked cassava leaf in rich palm oil. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier 2007-02-13T00:00:00Z

My cousin Stacey, who goes to New Castle, says she and a friend were in Chicago and he was playing this club and he totally hooked up with both of them? All The Bright Places 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

The officer in charge gave a sign and the doors to the mess hall were thrown open, as a band marched into the cleaned out center of the hall playing the “Foreign Legion March.” The Great Santini 1976-01-01T00:00:00Z

Sure, they were having a great time camping out and playing hide- and-seek, and living out here was a great trick on the cities. Uglies 2005-02-08T00:00:00Z

“The Devil is commonly supposed to be a black man in habilements of black, playing the fiddle.” The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party 2006-09-12T00:00:00Z

The campers stopped playing volleyball and stared up at die attic. The Last Olympian 2009-05-05T00:00:00Z

Drumbeats sounded, faint and distant, like someone was playing somewhere out on Isihlangu. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky 2019-10-15T00:00:00Z

The boys are in their room, playing with their dump trucks. The Queen of Water 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z

Jack-Jack shouted some sort of command at Petey and they both shot into the woods to gather more sticks for whatever game they were playing. We'll Fly Away 2018-05-08T00:00:00Z

“If she stayed on the streets. I dont reckon she’d be playing out of school just to do something she could do in public,” I says. The Sound and the Fury 1929-01-01T00:00:00Z

We watched him through the gate, playing with the girl. The Bridge Home 2019-02-05T00:00:00Z

I stare back, paying attention to nothing but the hold music now playing on the phone. Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

I was sitting in my grandmother’s lap, playing with her drop pearl earrings, when my mother told her we were leaving the country. Dreaming in Cuban 1992-01-01T00:00:00Z

The band was playing loudly when the Marines entered the restaurant and headed as decorously as their condition permitted for seats at the bar. The Great Santini 1976-01-01T00:00:00Z

He’d assumed that the person playing the oboe was the curly- haired girl, Marigold. A Tangle of Knots 2013-02-05T00:00:00Z

“I’m tired of playing with stones and acorns. Just think, a real board instead of squares scratched in the dirt.” The Old Willis Place 2004-09-20T00:00:00Z

The album playing low in the room is an old favorite Alex remembers from Denver: Muddy Waters. Red, White & Royal Blue 2019-05-14T00:00:00Z

Both of them believe that what they are to each other offstage makes playing the parts far easier. Drama High 2013-09-26T00:00:00Z

So he just laid them all on the table and mixed them up like a child would do before playing Go Fish. The Boy in the Black Suit 2015-01-06T00:00:00Z

People hung in clumps around the doorways, children playing on the sidewalks and in the gutters. The Light in Hidden Places 2020-03-03T00:00:00Z

“Why do you care so much? You’re not playing in the game, are you?” Amina's Voice 2017-03-14T00:00:00Z

In the beginning my sisters bustled indoors, playing the role of mother’s helper with more enthusiasm than they’d ever shown for housework in all their born days. The Poisonwood Bible 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

Beyond the playing fields were a few school buildings, a dining lodge, log dormitories, and several small houses for teachers. Bomb 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

A dozen or more children were playing there, dodging in and out of the traffic with a skill and indifference which I could not help admiring. Nectar in a Sieve 1954-01-01T00:00:00Z

Of course, I’m not going to follow her, although it would be easier than playing On the Track, the game we made up when went berrying or food gathering. On the Far Side of the Mountain 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z

Pretty soon we were getting booked more and more in the suburbs, meeting white people, playing for white people. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood 2016-11-15T00:00:00Z

My brothers spent their time playing with the crowd of shelter children. Tasting the Sky 2007-02-20T00:00:00Z

When he hiked past Lowell Park, saw the men playing chess at the park benches, saw the complicated graffiti on the side of one of the apartment buildings, he began to relax. Anger Is a Gift 2018-05-22T00:00:00Z

A woman in white hurries to the door, believing against all reason that she has just heard the ailing President playing a song on the kalimba. The Poisonwood Bible 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z

Those were my favorite days of the year, even better than playing in the marsh or listening to Miss Watson. Root Magic 2021-01-05T00:00:00Z

If I skip a day playing numbers—or maybe a zoot payment or two—I can scrape up a train fare. X: A Novel 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z

When everyone looked away, he had the same face as that time after we all told him we were playing Hide-and-Seek and sent him off to hide. Black Swan Green 2006-04-10T00:00:00Z

Most of my classmates could outrun me on the playing field and outthink me in the classroom, and I had a good deal of catching up to do. Long Walk to Freedom 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

Beyond which issues the concerted whispers of pianos playing. All the Light We Cannot See 2014-05-06T00:00:00Z

Sander went on substituting for him in Hamlet, and I for Julia, but the two of us could not hope to fill all the roles both of them had been playing. The Shakespeare Stealer 1998-05-01T00:00:00Z

No kids ran along the streets playing with their friends. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky 2019-10-15T00:00:00Z

The little children playing on the edge of the silky line of foam. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 1940-07-29T00:00:00Z

I chose a picture of my father and me playing basketball in front of the house. Landscape with Invisible Hand 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

I imagine Bruno here, running and playing like all the other dogs. I Can Make This Promise 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z

A bunch of soldiers were sitting around a table playing poker, and there was real money in the center of the table. A Place to Belong 2019-05-14T00:00:00Z

We were discussing my day, sitting in our robes at the dining room table, after dinner and baths, playing Monopoly. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z

We kept working on our project, finishing up our paper prototypes and playing around with some app-building software. Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence 2022-03-22T00:00:00Z

“I’m not playing with you guys. Settle down—now!” Like Vanessa 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

“So you spend less time playing with cricketers, you’ll sell more papers,” said Mama. The Cricket in Times Square 1960-01-01T00:00:00Z

Lately he’d started joking about us playing air- guitar—air-cello duets, which was about as far as I was willing to go. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

I was playing in a large high school auditorium that echoed with phlegmy coughs and the squeaky rubber knobs of chair legs sliding across freshly waxed wooden floors. The Joy Luck Club 1989-01-01T00:00:00Z

They had got my parents doing things like taking bus trips to factory outlets and playing a dice game called “bunko” and hanging around the piano bar at the Ramada Inn. The Secret History 1992-10-16T00:00:00Z

She looked so much like someone playing the part of spoiled rich girl that Rishi wondered if she practiced it in the mirror to fit in better. When Dimple Met Rishi 2017-05-30T00:00:00Z

I realize that Tiny isn't playing Tiny; he's playing the coach. Will Grayson, Will Grayson 2010-04-06T00:00:00Z

The sound was King Phillip playing his guitar and singing to his daughter, the Princess Pea, every night before she fell asleep. The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread 2003-08-25T00:00:00Z

As for us, we tried staying indoors and playing Lotería like Mamá instructed. Summer of the Mariposas 2012-10-20T00:00:00Z

Christina and I have been sitting against one of the walls, playing a game in which each of us tries to pin down the other s thumb. Insurgent 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z

And I was busy, much of my time spent practicing or playing in a string quartet or taking theory classes at the community college. If I Stay 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

He thinks his father’s limp is the consequence of an injury playing soccer in his teens. The Namesake 2003-09-01T00:00:00Z

He stood under the clock in the cold, the wandering boy playing in a mound of snow near his feet. Salt to the Sea 2016-02-02T00:00:00Z

Our whole platoon really playing volleyball this time. Okay for Now 2011-04-05T00:00:00Z

While turning around, she came across a group of boys playing soccer. Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z

Once he came down to the library while Francis and I were playing cards, but he refused our invitation to join in and poked listlessly through the shelves, finally meandering upstairs without choosing a book. The Secret History 1992-10-16T00:00:00Z

I think the boys he’d been playing football with earlier came back, or maybe it was some students strolling by who came and sat down with us. Never Let Me Go 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

“Okay, another one!” a tall boy who was clearly playing the role of MC said, looking out at the small crowd. When Dimple Met Rishi 2017-05-30T00:00:00Z

From the back of a yellow house, two girls emerge, playing geisha. Middlesex: A Novel 2002-06-05T00:00:00Z

“Fair warning: don’t let her talk you into playing chess.” Warcross 2017-09-12T00:00:00Z

And the girl whose twin had died; she was younger than the yellow-haired one, just toddling, but she giggled and shrieked with the others, playing catch-me-while-I’m-running. Gathering Blue 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

“I’m playing devil’s advocate, is all. I don’t want you to get hurt. Or anyone else, either.” Internment 2019-03-07T00:00:00Z