How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Exiled like a criminal to a distant land."
"With no clan to nurture you. Surrounded by strangers." (1.71-72)
When Shirley's departure from China is announced at home, her aunts cluck over her. They're bemoaning her leaving, not so much because they're losing a relative, but because America is so barbaric. She's got no family, a nucleus of Chinese culture, except for her parents, and will be bereft of her important extended family. She won't know anything about where she lives, either. Those two qualities—family and surroundings—help make up the home, and Shirley won't have them.
Quote #2
Home was Brooklyn, New York, but Shirley would not know that for a while. To her it was simply Mei Guo, Beautiful Country. (2.42)
Shirley doesn't know anything about Brooklyn, but she doesn't even entirely identify it as her home yet. For her, it's a "beautiful country," but it's not her country… at this point.
Quote #3
Shirley's new home was on the third floor. Altogether, the place was barely larger than her own room had been in the clan compound. But her disappointment did not last, for Father was so proud of it. (2.48)
The Wong family's new apartment is entirely different from the Wong clan's big house in China. It's a tiny place, but her dad's so into it—he finally has a place that he's worked so hard for—and Shirley gets into it, too. If anything, we can assume this is her dad's first home that he's made for his own family without the help of his parents. For him, this independence feels good.
Quote #4
It did not look at all like a kitchen. No hanging ducks or hams. No woodpile or soot. No picture of the Kitchen God. Just a tiny room with a washing bowl and two white boxes. (2.57)
Shirley's got to get used to a lot of new things in America, this home being one of them. It's completely different from the Chinese kitchen. It's not elaborate and is rather simple. Is that what America is like? Downgrading from Chinese traditions? She's not sure.
Quote #5
Each house was a replica of theirs. Every place stuck to the next. Wall to wall, without any gardens. No moon gates or fan windows or stone lions. Now and then a tree, but no flower beds. (2.89)
Once again, Chinese homes are far better than American houses, at least in terms of Shirley's initial impressions. Chinese homes are far more elaborate and pretty, while the places in Brooklyn look all the same. Where'd all the creativity go? All the pretty things? Again—is this a downgrade? We get why she's wondering.
Quote #6
So what if she did not see her friends until September. She had Mother and Father and Señora, not to mention Toscanini. (7.9)
Eventually, after forming more social bonds, Shirley has begun to identify home with her new residence. Even if her friends are away for the summer, she's got her family in the apartment building, and they make her feel comfortable and she enjoys their company. It'll be a good summer.
Quote #7
She had grown quite fond of the toothless Señora, who no longer bothered with the formality of dentures at all during their lessons. (7.13)
Shirley's bonding with Señora Rodriguez. Even though she dislikes piano lessons, Shirley has a friend in the old lady—they share common experiences, love for their families, and amusement at Toscanini's antics. Señora R helps Shirley settle in and enjoy her summer.
Quote #8
When she opened them again, there stood a giant bed fit for an emperor. Shirley threw herself on the mattress and lolled about like a fish tossed back to the sea. "How did you do it, Father? How?"
But before he could say a word, she shouted, "I know. It's just another wonderful engine made in America. (8.21-22)
Shirley's dad is the temporary landlord while Señora Rodriguez is away… and he spends some money on a new bed for his girl. Shirley has her own bed, something she can call her own, which helps make the apartment feel like that much more her own place, too. She is creating her own memories there.
Quote #9
He grinned as if he had unearthed a store of treasures, banging a pipe here, examining a wire there.
"This will be a wonderful challenge. Just wonderful." (8.36-37)
Father wants to clean the furnace room and finds a bunch of fun stuff to clean that he says they can turn into treasures. He takes pride in his new home and wants to improve it and take care of it. In doing so, he gets gifts for all his new neighbors, cementing friendships and rooting him further into the community.
Quote #10
"Then, you won't mind doing something for Mrs. O'Reilly, will you?"
"Now?"
"Now." (9.82-84)
Ever get dragged into helping out a neighbor? Shirley now is part of the Brooklyn family, and she gets roped into doing favors for Mrs. O'Reilly. Shirley, like a typical kid, grumps about it, but she does it to make money and to be helpful. This helps cement her as just one of the neighbors now.