How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Line)
Quote #1
"You'd think they'd assign him a partner or something," I said.
"Like who," Maribel said. "You?"
"No! Like another boy or something. That doesn't even make sense, him sitting by himself like that. All new and everything." (2.15-17)
The new kid already stands out enough when he arrives at school, since he's white and all, but it's only worse when he doesn't have anyone to hang out with. Frannie can feel his pain—although she's not willing to be the first person to befriend him.
Quote #2
"My daddy said it would be better here," he said, almost whispering it. "He said people would be… he said people would be… you know, nice to me." He looked down at his hands again. After a minute, he put his head down on his desk and sighed. (4.47)
Jesus Boy moved to this side of the highway just so that he could fit in, and it's not working out. He's already gone through this whole being left out and looked at strangely thing—he doesn't want to do it again.
Quote #3
"No wonder he's not trying to talk to us."
I wanted to say, "He's not trying to talk to you because he's not interested in you!" But I didn't say anything. What was the use? (10.23-24)
Frannie knows that no matter how much girls might check out her brother and call him a cutie, they're not going to do the work that it takes to really get to know him. His deafness is a barrier that they just don't want to cross.
Quote #4
"… You just remember there's a time when each one of us is the different one and when its' our turn, we're always wishing and hoping it was somebody else. You be that somebody else when you see that boy. You be the one to remember." (11.35)
When Frannie tells her grandma about the new kid in class, her grandma picks up on the fact that he's being ostracized right away. She gives her granddaughter a stern lecture about how Frannie needs to be the different one, and to show real compassion. You go, Gran.
Quote #5
She grabbed her friend's arm and started walking away. "Dang," she said. "All that fineness wasted."
I could see the smile starting to fall off Sean's face. (13.17-18)
Poor Sean. It's frustrating for him to get approached by all these girls… only to have them walk away without even talking to him. They're just not interested once they learn about his deafness.
Quote #6
That day, you just kind of looked at me like I was crazy. And you know why? Sean looked at me and waited.
es, I signed. Because I didn't understand what you were talking about.
Yeah. Because you already have both worlds, Frannie. You can walk wherever you want. (13.30-32)
As much as Frannie tries to "get" her brother, she fails to understand just how alone and left out he feels. He may seem attractive, confident, smart, and athletic, but beneath all of that, he's kind of lonesome.
Quote #7
Standing there in the snow, with all those kids standing around, it came to me—his calmness, his hair, the paleness of his skin—he'd always had to walk through the world this way, push through. Maybe he'd met a whole bunch of Trevors in his life. Maybe he'd go on meeting them." (14.42)
When Frannie sees Jesus Boy getting picked on by Trevor, she can't help but think about how it must be awful to be so different. That kid's probably been made fun of by all sorts of mean kids—Trevor isn't the first bully to come along in his life.
Quote #8
"It frees him," he said. "All that stuff that makes him mad and mean and ugly leaves him when he does stuff to other people." (18.7)
Why doesn't Trevor want to get close to anyone? He just likes to pick on people and be in control because it makes him feel momentarily better about himself. The idea of actually opening up to someone is probably terrifying to him.
Quote #9
"Now what we're going to do this morning," she said, her voice becoming all bright again. "Is write down the things we all have in common." (18.21)
Ms. Johnson is a smart lady—she can tell when the kids in her class aren't getting along, and when they're keeping someone out of the inner circle because he's different. She has them do a writing assignment so that the cogs in their brains can start turning.
Quote #10
"I don't know why you'd help someone so mean like that," she said.
"Because he needed it," I said. "I don't know. I'd even help Maribel get up if she fell down. I don't really like her but—I don't know. It's what you do." (19.11-12)
Samantha thinks that it's crazy of Frannie to help Trevor up when he's such a meanie head, but Frannie sees it differently. She helped Trevor up because no one likes him; after all, who else is going to do it if she doesn't?