How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I made the mistake of leaving one of my drawings face-up on my desk. […] In fact, in the drawing that my dad saw sitting on my desk, [Bustella] was wearing nothing but a scabbard for her sword. (3.2)
Ah yes. The man-child goes from sketching ninjas and super heroes to drawing scantily-clad goddesses. Coming of age indeed.
Quote #2
What makes them think that they happen to have been born into the right [religion]? I have asked this question several times. So far, I haven't heard a good answer. (6.56)
We wonder whether Jason hasn't heard a good answer because there isn't a satisfying one to this particular question, or because Jason's parents still see him as a just-do-as-you-are-told child. Perhaps a bit of both?
Quote #3
Free, free at last! Ha! They'll never catch me now—not until it's too late. […] From now on, they'll do as I say. (10.2)
More characteristic Jason hyperbole, but it's pretty clear that this young man wants his independence and longs for a reversal in the power structure.
Quote #4
This will be the first time I've ever mowed the lawn without direct orders from a superior officer. Better to take on one quick job than let my mother enslave me for some major all-day monotony. (11.18)
If not actual maturity, this course of action certainly seems to illustrate that Jason has gained wisdom from experience.
Quote #5
I don't know what to say. It's weird. I can sit in a TPO meeting or a classroom with a bunch of kids and yak my head off. Or talk for hours to Shin, or even to a guy like Henry, but one-on-one with Magda, my brain seizes up like an overheated engine. (13.14)
Good times. Those first phone calls with the opposite sex. We thought all you whippersnappers texted these days?
Quote #6
"Jason," [my dad] says, fighting to keep his voice under control, "Do you want to keep living here with us, under this roof?"
I nod. It's not such a bad place. (20.45-46)
Sixteen: that awkward stage of wanting to run the show yourself, and needing someone else to keep a roof over your head.
Quote #7
Magda laughs, and I feel it inside my chest.
There is nothing in the world I would rather do than make Magda Price laugh. (23.79-80)
We think Hautman does a good job of capturing adolescent crush sensations and thoughts.
Quote #8
"I'm sorry to hear that, Jason. […] Because it means you've got a long, lonely road ahead of you."
"It's my road."
"You're right about that." His shoulders dropped and I felt something go out of him, as if he had been holding his breath for years and had suddenly remembered to exhale. (31.12-14)
Sometimes adulthood contains paradoxes. Jason gets what he's fought for, but it's not all jumpy-houses and pony rides.
Quote #9
"All right then," [my dad] said, his mouth curved into a sad smile. It wasn't one of his usual looks—angry, bewildered, impatient, friendly, curious, or astonished. It was more of a level look, a look of recognition and understanding. (31.15)
A level look. One of mutuality and some degree of equality. This is a Big Moment.