How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Yo, man, that's Icy! Oh, man." I had to turn away because just mentioning her made me want to cry. (2.36)
Reese doesn't miss much about home, except for his sister, Icy (okay, and his freedom). He feels sad just thinking about her. The flipside of this, of course, is how happy Icy makes him when he's out.
Quote #2
"Progress doesn't sound too bad," Icy had said. She was crying because she knew I was sad. (4.52)
Being behind bars isn't just hard on Reese; it's also hard for his little sister. She's left to pretty much fend for herself without Reese around since he's basically her only reliable family member.
Quote #3
He told me he didn't think I was his real son.
That was supposed to make me feel bad and it did. (4.59-4.60)
Reese's father is a total jerk. Even though Reese knows that, their bad relationship still makes him sad…which is exactly his dad's goal. Ugh.
Quote #4
I was down on my knees scrubbing it the best I could. I was crying but I wasn't making any noise. (6.46)
Reese is disappointed in himself after he gets in a fight, and he feels depressed because he feels like he's not in control of his choices.
Quote #5
Sometimes, when I see Toon, I think he looks like how I would look if I could see inside myself. […] When I think about Toon, I want to cry. (22.2)
Reese isn't feeling so good about his friend Toon…or himself, for that matter. Even when he's not crying, it seems like he wants to. He carries a lot of sadness in his heart.
Quote #6
The only thing that was going on in my life was whether the garbage was bad enough that I didn't mind people seeing me cry. (24.1)
Reese tries to be stoic, but sometimes things are so bad he doesn't even mind if people know how sad he feels. Hey, ain't no shame in the crying game.
Quote #7
They were long days and I could feel myself getting depressed. It was like a dark cloud was creeping over me and I couldn't do anything about it. (24.12)
Reese's depression gets worse when two cops try to pin a murder charge on him. The prospect of being behind bars longer is almost too much to bear, especially because he definitely didn't kill anybody.
Quote #8
A lot of people seemed to be making up their lives, and I guessed if you didn't have anything else really going on, it was the thing to do. But it was sad. (24.68)
Reese isn't angry with Mr. Hooft for lying about his past. Instead he feels empathy and sadness. What do you think he finds so sad?
Quote #9
Saturday was forever long. Sadness was like sucking on me and taking the life out of my body. I felt so weak, I was having trouble standing up. (27.8)
Sadness doesn't just affect Reese mentally; it has a physical impact on his body, too. Have you ever felt so sad you could barely stand? That's a lot of sadness, we're thinking.
Quote #10
I felt a sadness come over me. It was like a window had opened and a bad wind was pouring in from outside. (29.47)
The sadness in Reese's life is like weather. It's something that happens to him; he can't control it. Unrelated, we really dig the way he describes this experience in this passage.