How we cite our quotes: (Poem Title, Stanza)
Quote #1
So you want to hear the whole story. Why I swerved off the high road, hard left to nowhere, recklessly indifferent to those coughing my dust, I picked up speed, no limits, no top end, just a high velocity rush to madness. (Introduction.5-8)
To say that Kristina goes off the deep end in this book is kind of an understatement—maybe jumping out of a plane with a parachute that almost doesn't open is a better analogy. Still, these early lines from the book give us a taste of the ridiculous risks she'll subject herself to.
Quote #2
The white stuff was a different story. He'd stay up all night, eating zip, bowling and snorting line after line. Rent money, right up the nose. (He Hadn't Changed After All.3)
If you take a minute to really zero in on Kristina's dad's behavior, it's clear drug use is an awful waste of time. You deprive yourself of sleep, blow all your money, and as if that's not enough, you have to actually recover from the high. How Kristina's dad still has a place to live is kind of beyond us.
Quote #3
I watched hands, hard and etched, like granite, light a match with finesse. Do you have any bad habits?
I could have made up something. Instead I shook my head. Want any? (His Mom Was at Work.3-4)
Well that's a haunting line. Kristina's dad might be partially to blame for Kristina's descent into the world of drugs, but Adam is ultimately the one who introduces her to his vices. The cavalier attitude of his question—"Want any?"—shows the foolish attitudes so many of this book's characters have toward dangerous, destructive vices like drugs.