How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Gosh, right down the main street we go, all four of us, you, me, Dad, the witch! Dad's one in a million!" (34.160)
Do you ever hear kids talk about their parents like this today? How would you express the same sentiment in more contemporary, less leave-it-to-Beaver language?
Quote #8
Douglas was asleep as they approached. Tom motioned to his parents, smiling wildly. They bent over the cot. (38.126)
After Mr. Jonas gives Doug his potions, Tom and his parents sit beside Doug to watch him awaken. Contrast this with the family leaving Great-grandma Spaulding's bedside as she died.
Quote #9
Grandma, he had often wanted to say, is this where the world began? For surely it had begun in no other than a place like this. The kitchen, without doubt, was the center of all creation, all things revolved about it; it was the pediment that sustained the temple. (39.2)
"The pediment that sustained the temple" means the base upon which the building was built—or, in this case, upon which the family was built. Doug could be referring to the kitchen as the center of both home and family here.