diff --git a/parse/parse.go b/parse/parse.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdaee4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/parse/parse.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package parse
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"io"
+	"strconv"
+
+	"github.com/mediocregopher/ginger/types"
+)
+
+//func ReadElem(r io.Reader) (types.Elem, error) {
+//	buf := bufio.NewReader(r)
+//	var err error
+//	for {
+//	}
+//}
+
+// ReadString reads in a string from the given reader. It assumes the first
+// double-quote has already been read off. Ginger strings are wrapped with " and
+// are allowed to have newlines literal in them. In all other respects they are
+// the same as go strings.
+func ReadString(r io.Reader) (types.Str, error) {
+	buf := bufio.NewReader(r)
+	str := types.Str("\"")
+	for {
+		piece, err := buf.ReadBytes('"')
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		str += types.Str(piece)
+		if piece[len(piece)-2] != '\\' {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
+	ret, err := strconv.Unquote(string(str))
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return types.Str(ret), nil
+}
diff --git a/parse/parse.test b/parse/parse.test
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..21bbafc
Binary files /dev/null and b/parse/parse.test differ
diff --git a/parse/parse_test.go b/parse/parse_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ce7653
--- /dev/null
+++ b/parse/parse_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package parse
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	. "testing"
+
+	"github.com/mediocregopher/ginger/types"
+)
+
+func TestReadString(t *T) {
+	m := map[string]types.Str{
+		`"hey there"`: "hey there",
+		`"hey\nthere"`: "hey\nthere",
+		`"hey there ⌘"`: "hey there ⌘",
+		`"hey\nthere \u2318"`: "hey\nthere ⌘",
+	}
+
+	for input, output := range m {
+		buf := bytes.NewBufferString(input)
+		buf.ReadByte()
+
+		parseOut, err := ReadString(buf)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if output != parseOut {
+			t.Fatalf("`%s` != `%s`", output, parseOut)
+		}
+	}
+}