How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Line)
Quote #1
As the months passed and he kept getting in trouble for hitting people, we figured out that he had a mean streak in him—one minute he'd be smiling, the next his blue eyes would get all small and he'd be ramming into somebody who'd said the wrong thing or given him the wrong look… The whole class was a little bit afraid of him, but Rayray was a lot afraid. (1.32)
Trevor makes friends in the same way that a dictator does—by striking fear into the hearts of those around him. Rayray is only his buddy because he's so terrified of Trevor.
Quote #2
Some mornings, I woke up feeling like the whole world was slipping away from me. Mama said it was just growing pains and soon they'd go away. (6.52)
Growing up is not a comfortable period for Frannie. It seems like every day, she has something new to worry or think about. The world is changing, and so is her family. What's a girl to do?
Quote #3
I felt something jump inside of me. Something hard and heavy. Don't start your stupid worrying, Sean said. She's just feeling tired. (7.6-7)
As soon as Frannie hears that her mama is sleeping in the middle of the afternoon, she freaks out. She's not the kind of girl who remains levelheaded and waits to see what is going on; she immediately jumps to the worst-case scenario.
Quote #4
Mama stayed in the hospital for a long time after the not-thriving baby died. And the whole time she was in there, it felt like our family was holding its breath. Then, when the doctors said she was okay, we all started breathing again. But Mama came home quiet and sad and for a long time, that's how she stayed. (7.11)
Frannie has good reason for being worried about her mama. Things haven't gone so well in the past with her mama's pregnancies—she's lost one baby in utero, and one a month after it was born. Those are traumatizing events for any family.
Quote #5
She's supposed to be all better, I signed, slinking down against the wall. I felt like I was eight years old again, scared and mad at Mama for not being Mama. She had said she was all better.
Sean smiled and shook his head. It wasn't a big smile. Just more like a big-brother smile. (7.13-14)
Sean is worried about their mama, too, but he tries to put on a brave face. Someone has to keep Frannie from moping and falling into a spiral of despair—it won't be good for anyone in the family if she completely gives into her fears.
Quote #6
Mama stayed in bed on Saturday, only getting up to go to the bathroom and to stop me from yelling at Sean for changing the television channel in the middle of my favorite cartoons. It was almost noon when she came into the living room. There were bags under her eyes and when hse signed to Sean, her hands moved slower than usual. Sean was in a stupid mood and needed to be fighting with somebody. (9.1)
When Mama isn't doing so well physically, the whole family is on edge. Even Sean—who is usually a great big brother—gets a little snappy. Can you blame them? They're basically waiting for any news… any news at all.
Quote #7
"You don't need to worry about what happened before. All you need to look at is what's happening now." He nudged my chin up so I would look at him. "And be happy about it. And if it means you only get to be happy for a month or two months or three months, so what. A month or two months or three months is a good long time." (9.15)
Frannie's daddy doesn't let his daughter mope around and feel bad; instead he lets her know that she's being ridiculous in letting her life be ruled by fear. She should embrace the good things instead of fearing the bad all the time.
Quote #8
My grandmother always says that good things come in ones and twos and threes and bad things come however they can get here. I tried to close my eyes and picture the place where all the tiredness was coming from, the place where the baby was growing and wearing Mama out. I wanted to lift the tiredness up out of Mama with my thinking. (9.22)
You can tell Frannie's a good daughter—not because she does the dishes, or makes her bed without being asked, but because she really deeply cares about her mama. She wants her to feel better and she'll do anything to make that happen.
Quote #9
And staring at the picture of Lila, hanging on the wall with her eyes all dark and wide, it dawned on me—I wasn't afraid of dying because dying had always been somewhere in our house, somewhere so close, we could feel the wind of it on our cheeks. (12.22)
Frannie's afraid of a lot—like societal changes, and her mama being unwell, and giving up her place in the family—but she's not all that scared of death. She's been aware of it since she was a little kid, as morbid as that sounds.
Quote #10
"I ain't scared of Trevor anymore," Rayray said. "I'm not going to let him hit me in the head anymore either. I bet none of us gonna be scared of him. He's just like us. Just a kid. You don't need to be scared of no kid." (15.10)
Once Rayray sees Trevor on the ground crying, he realizes that it makes no sense to be afraid of this kid. He has his weaknesses, too—he's not some scary monster who's going to eat Rayray if he doesn't comply with his every request.