How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #1
But my ama, with her crow-black hair braided with bits of red rag and beads, her cinnamon skin, and her ears hung with the joyful noise of tinkling gold, is, to me, more lovely.
And her slender back, which bears our troubles—and our hopes—is more beautiful still. (4.SomethingBeautiful.6-7).
Lakshmi sees her future on the mountain here. Her mother, Ama, is everything she wants to be—strong, hopeful, resilient, and beautiful—and she gives Lakshmi hope.
Quote #2
Instead, we linger over a luxury that costs nothing:
Imagining what may be. (21.Maybe.18)
Take a look at the word "luxury" here. A luxury implies that what they are doing—hoping for the future—is extravagant and valuable. This suggests that many dreams don't come true in this community.
Quote #3
I nod yes-no-yes-no and run back to Ama, afraid to tell her about this new auntie who smells of amber and jasmine and possibility. (33.Possibility.10)
Sometimes Lakshmi wonders what the world is like beyond her mountain home. Unfortunately for her, Auntie Bimla—whom she meets here for the first time—will yank her away and down a path she'd never hope to travel.