How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I thought ahead to the time when I would be graduating from the sixth grade in Adenville like Sweyn would in June of that year. I too would be sent to school in Salt Lake City. The thought scared me and made my mouth dry. (1.49)
Going away to boarding school is currently not one of J.D.'s dreams. Then again, he's young yet. We bet by the time he's twelve, he'll be chomping at the bit to get out of the house.
Quote #2
The failure of the new inventions Papa ordered was always made all the more embarrassing because he bragged about them in advance. The water closet was no exception. Everybody in town knew about it long before it arrived. (1.73)
Hey, Papa needs his dreams, too. From the 21st century, we can say with confidence that he's picked a winner with this invention. It's hard to imagine so much skepticism about indoor toilets, isn't it? Thank goodness they caught on.
Quote #3
"But Mamma," I protested, "I never get a chance to catch a disease first. Sweyn will be all well just when Tom and I are getting sick. And when Tom catches a disease first, he is all well just when Sweyn and I are getting sick. It ain't fair, Mamma." (2.13)
When we were J.D.'s age, we were dreaming about a new Nintendo. We sure were lucky to come around after childhood vaccinations were a thing, or we would've been dreaming about getting the mumps over with.
Quote #4
I knew Tom had this on his mind when he approached me with a proposition. We were sitting on our back porch steps just sort of lazily enjoying the beginning of the summer vacation.
"J.D.," Tom said, "let me arrange to mate Brownie with Lady and I'll see to it that you get the pick of the litter of pups."
"I don't need you to arrange it," I said, thinking he was going to charge me for it. "As the owner of the male dog I get the pick of the litter anyway." (3.4-6)
We call it "summer vacation," Tom calls it "new money-making plans" season. Hey, he's not doing anything else—he might as well chip away at his dream of becoming a millionaire.
Quote #5
Papa thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers. "Open a variety store right here in Adenville," he said.
Abie's eyes brightened for a second and then became sad. "I'm afraid it wouldn't pay," he said. "The Mormons naturally buy everything they can at the Z.C.M.I. store and there aren't enough non-Mormons in Adenville to support a variety store. Besides, it would take every cent I have to open a store and if it failed…" He did not finish the sentence. (4.57-58)
Abie wants it to work, but he knows from the beginning it's too good to be true. The grown-up dreams are considerably sadder than the kid dreams in this book. Tear.
Quote #6
Papa was a good talker when it came to settling somebody else's future. I knew Abie didn't have a chance when Papa went to work on him. (4.60)
Aren't we all? It's so easy to think we see other people's lives clearly, plus planning other people's lives gives us all the fun of dreaming without any of the risk.
Quote #7
My brother sounded like a prophet of doom. I felt a chill come over me.
"What are you going to do?" I asked breathlessly.
"I'm going to put my great brain to work on getting rid of Mr. Standish," Tom answered. (7.56-58)
The thing about Tom is that when he makes a plan, he follows through. The kid's super reliable in this regard.
Quote #8
Tom put his hand on my shoulder. "Now listen to me, J.D.," he said earnestly. "Last spring when I saw Brownie making up to a female dog for the first time, I put my great brain to work. I took Brownie and Lady to see Mr. Monaire. I told him that Brownie was a purebred Alaskan and Lady was a genuine sheep dog. He carefully examined both dogs and agreed with me. I then drove a hard bargain with Mr. Monaire. I got him to agree to pay two dollars for any male pup and one dollar for any female pup by Lady and Brownie." (8.47)
Now that's what we call a plan. Just as Tom knows an opportunity when he sees it, Mr. Monaire knows a good sheep dog. These two are a match made in puppy selling heaven.
Quote #9
We discussed several ways for Andy to kill himself, only to discard them. I had never realized before what a problem it was for a person to figure out a way to kill himself. I was about to suggest we get Tom and his great brain to figure it out for us when Andy came up with an idea that sounded promising. (8.107)
Okay, so we know J.D. is not the great brains of the family, but how is he dumb enough to literally make a plan to help his friend kill himself? Can we chock this up to youth?