Excerpt: in no particular order

We giggled. Dodie almost never did anything but giggle--her laugh was just like a louder giggle. But when I laughed, it was loud and big and once, when we were on top of the Salmon, Dodie told me that Martin West had asked her if she and I were pregnant, 'cause why else would we wear such big, tent like dresses, and I let out a Laugh, yes, a capitalized Laugh, loud and big as can be, and I swear to God, not only did it echo through town, but just about every body stopped where they were and looked around, and a few people inside poked their heads out their doors and windows to see what on earth that could have been. Alaska's a place for big things: big men, big montains, big moose and big laughter. Big sky, too. That day, I felt like the whole sky was vibrating with my laughter, and I was embarrassed.