How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Line)
Quote #1
The boy just looked up at all of them. Then he did something amazing. He took his hands out of his pocket and signed, No I'm not deaf. Then he looked over at me and smiled—like he'd known all along I was standing by the fence, watching him. (2.53)
How does that Jesus Boy know just how to communicate with Frannie without anyone else being able to listen in, anyway? It's sort of surprising that he knows sign language—since he's not deaf—but it also creates a bit of a bond between them.
Quote #2
He can't hear, so you have to use sign language with him. He can talk a little bit, but most people don't understand what he's saying. I guess that's because you have to listen real hard and most people don't want to spend a lot of energy on listening to people. (3.17)
Just because Sean is deaf doesn't mean that he's stupid or incapable of holding a conversation. He's just as conversational as anyone else—he just does so differently.
Quote #3
Hearing girls were always looking at him. But most times, when they saw his hands flying through the air, they stopped looking, which was stupid to me. Sign language is just another language and if they weren't so dumb, maybe they could learn to speak it. (7.14)
Sean isn't the stupid one, according to Frannie—the girls who act like he's the stupid one are the real stupid ones. They're the ones who are incapable of learning another language when they want to talk to him so badly.