How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When it comes to girls (and in Colin's case, it so often did), everyone has a type. Colin Singleton's type was not physical but linguistic: he liked Katherines. And not Katies or Kats or Kitties or Cathys or Rynns or Trinas or Kays or Kates or, God forbid, Catherines. K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E. He had dated nineteen girls. All of them had been named Katherine. And all of them—every single solitary one—had dumped him. When it comes to girls (and in Colin's case, it so often did), everyone has a type. Colin Singleton's type was not physical but linguistic: he liked Katherines. And not Katies or Kats or Kitties or Cathys or Rynns or Trinas or Kays or Kates or, God forbid, Catherines. K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E. He had dated nineteen girls. All of them had been named Katherine. And all of them—every single solitary one—had dumped him. (3.26)
There you have it—we get a peak into Colin's dating history, and let's just say it ain't pretty. All he's ever dated are Katherines, and they are so mashed up together in his mind that they are no longer individuals. K-1 through 19 are just that: a series of numbers. They aren't even people anymore because they are so mixed up in his mind.
Quote #2
You're a very special person. Colin would hear this a lot, and yet—somehow—he could never hear it enough. (3.35)
When Colin is tested to see if he's a prodigy, he's told this, and tt seems like he's waiting to hear it again pretty much the entire novel. He wants to be somebody that people know is an all-star. That's a lot of pressure… for a toddler or a teen.
Quote #3
But she left anyway, and he was alone in his room, searching out anagrams for mymissingpiece in a vain attempt to fall asleep. (5.102)
This is pretty much the story of Colin's life: he falls in love with Katherine and then she dumps him. What's interesting here is that he tries to anagram mymissingpiece but can't. We don't think for one second that a whiz kid like Colin can't pick out the words in this phrase (um, hello… mince spies gym); instead, we think his inability to solve the anagram represents the fact that he's looking for something from Katherine that she can't give him. He think he needs someone to complete him, to make him original, but he's wrong, so Katherine isn't his missing piece.