"Says" conveys immediacy and helps bring the reader into the moment, like in
this article about a day in the life of a blind child:
At 8:05 A.M. Debby sits with her boys on the flagstone front step waiting for the school bus.
"All right," she says, "who has a green sweater on?"
"I don't know," Jed answers. "Who does? Me?"
"Yeah, you do. Who has green pants on?"
"Me?" Jed asks.
"No. Bradford."
"Who has a white shirt?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, you do. Who has sneakers on?"
"Me. Me," both boys say.
But in many cases, "said" is better suited for recounting a series of events, such as in
this article about a boy who rescued a girl struck by a train:
Jon Tesseo was on his way back from Fusaro's
Tailors when two boys came running out of the parking lot beside the
railroad tracks screaming for an ambulance.
"Take me there," Jon said.
Lani was sitting up on the trestle.
At first, Jon didn't see anything wrong.
"My leg hurts," the girl cried. And he saw the leg was gone.
One of Jon's 11 merit badges is in first aid. After he sent the boys to
summon help everything he did was "all reflex." Jon -- a tall, husky
boy whose hair was neatly cut, his black shoes well-shined -- said
yesterday as he stacked shirts at Toscano's.
"Pretend you're in Bermuda," Jon told the girl.
