How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
School ain't nothin' but a joke. My moms don't want to hear that, but if it weren't for Wesley and my other homeys, I wouldn't even be here, aiight? (3.1)
See? Friends are important. They're helping Tyrone stay in school. At least that's what he wants us to believe at this point in the story, anyway.
Quote #2
I come to school sporting shades and a johnny-print across my left cheek, Johnny being the name of the idiot who smacked me last night. Naturally, Porscha is the first person who notices my new tattoo. She walks straight up to me and says, "You deserve better, girlfriend. And you know it." No hello. No how are you. Just: "You deserve better." Then she turns away and walks into the classroom. Typical Porscha. No nonsense. That's why we get along. (5.2)
Chankara can appreciate a friend who tells it like it is, and she knows Porscha's right—she definitely deserves better. Nothing like a little support from a friend during a tough time, right?
Quote #3
Then here comes Sheila Gamberoni. The minute she sees me, she demands to know the name of the guy who gave me my shiner, like she's gonna send her brothers after him or something. I keep his name to myself, just in case. She commences to call the guy everything but a child of God, which makes her feel better, I think, then gives me a hug and says she'll see me later. Sheila is a bit over the top with this sister act, as if she's trying to make up for being white, but she means well. (5.3)
And now here's someone Chankara would never be friends with—well, not real friends at least. She feels like Sheila is trying too hard and it reads as disingenuous. Still, she's reaching out in friendship and Chankara does appreciate the effort.
Quote #4
Instead, she stepped back, lowered herself to the bench, and said, "Sorry about your mom. My mom died too."
Turns out we both live with our grandmothers. For a long time, she put off telling me what her mom died from. My mom died of cancer, which was no big secret, but hers died from a drug overdose. Porscha thought that would make a difference, but when I found out, I told her it made no difference at all. Dead is dead, and lonely is lonely, and they both stink. All that matters, I told her, is that we're friends. And we are. (26.11-12)
Leslie and Porscha bond over their shared loss. Both of their moms died, so both have felt feelings no one else can understand. Now they have each other and that makes the whole death thing just a little bit easier.
Quote #5
"Never mind. It's okay. You're not really alone, anyhow. You have friends. You have me."
"Yeah. I guess."
Leslie said she feels lonely sometimes too. She told me about how it was right after her mom died. I really listened because she doesn't talk about her mother much. She said that after the funeral, and even months after she moved in with her grandmother, her world felt so empty and hollow, she could hold it at one end and ring it like a bell. It's better now, she said.
We must've talked for an hour. I can't remember half of what we talked about, except that Leslie said friends can be like familia. Only she pronounced it fama-lea. It took me a minute to figure out what she meant. Anyway, she was right.
So I don't have a boyfriend now. So what? Neither does Janelle. Or Gloria. Or Leslie. But we have each other. (32.10-14)
Lupe is pretty bummed that she's broken up with her boyfriend, but she realizes in the end that it was the right thing to do. Besides, she has her girlfriends, so what does she need some stinky boy for anyway? Sisters before misters.
Quote #6
I'm better off with friends like Diondra and Janelle who know I'm more than what I look like. They know I've got a brain, and I know how to use it. They're no dummies either. That's why I asked Mr. Ward if the three of us could do a group project on Women of the Harlem Renaissance for extra credit. (38.11)
Tanisha doesn't much like it when other girls at school pick on her, but at least she knows who her true friends are. She can be herself around them and doesn't have to pretend that she's not smart to make them like her. And bonus points for the cool extra-credit assignment, ladies.
Quote #7
Them's my girls. They don't care what I look like. They know the only difference between my color and theirs is that the slave master who owned my family raped my great-great-grandma instead of theirs. And like my dad says, that ain't nothing to celebrate or be stuck up about. (38.21)
This is a pretty stark conclusion, but it's true—Tanisha might have a more mixed race background than her friends, but it wasn't by anyone in her family tree's choice. Her friends know who she is and they love her for it.
Quote #8
I seem to be jealous of everyone and everything. Especially the friendships I see all around me. Leslie and Porscha, Lupe and Gloria, Tanisha and Diondra. It's enough to make me ill.
It's been forever since I had a best friend, let alone a boyfriend.
"Friendships don't just happen," Sterling tells me whenever I complain. "You have to reach out and make them." (50.6-8)
Sterling is right when he gives this advice to Amy. She's so darn closed off from everyone that she's never had much luck making friends. Heck, her only real friend is Sterling, who spends a whole lot of time trying to convert her to Christianity. Sterling means well, but we'd say it's time for him to branch out, too.
Quote #9
I tried to pretend like the move is no big deal, since Mom and Dad are so hot on it, especially Mom, who's been wanting her own house forever. But man, I'm dying. I got friends here that I've grown up and gone to school with all my life, and I fit in here, and you can't tell me there are guys with bleach-blond buzz cuts and earrings in Yorktown. (56.5)
Even though Steve doesn't look like the other kids at his Bronx high school, he still likes it there and fits in. He has friends and he doesn't want to change that, so while his parents might think they're giving him a better life, all Steve sees is the loss of his buddies.
Quote #10
I just can't count on having too many friends along the way.
Black people keep reminding me that I'm not one of them. Asians shun me because my blood is not "pure." And whites are still making up their minds, although some want me to be their friend so I can help them with their math! (78.3-4)
Mai Tren isn't doing too hot at his new school. Since he doesn't fit into people's preconceived boxes, he's having a tough time making friends. Maybe he just needs some people who understand him for who he is. Hmm… wonder if Mr. Ward's class is full?