How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The paper route was where I met all the new people in my life and where all the bad stuff happened. And some good stuff too. At least I think it was good. I'm still trying to figure all of it out and I'm hoping that putting the words on paper will help. (1.18)
The paper route doesn't just help Victor to earn a buck or two (for Rat); it helps him grow up. It introduces him to responsibility and life outside of his own little social bubble.
Quote #2
I finally got around to telling Mam that I thought I would like the throwing part of Rat's newspaper route but the collecting part on Friday nights was messing me up on the insides.
I'll go collectin' with you.s-s-s-s-Need to s-s-s-s-do it on s-s-s-s-my own.
You be growing up, Little Man. I's proud of you. (1.35-38)
Collecting money for the paper route scares Victor, but he wants to be able to do it all on his own. After all, that's what growing up is all about—learning how to do things for yourself without relying on your parents or other adults in your life.
Quote #3
Mam had stopped giving me goodnight kisses on the top of my head a long time ago without me asking. You never had to tell Mam what you were thinking like you did with regular grown-ups. She always knew on her own. (1.49)
Mam is pretty much the only person in the family who realizes that Victor isn't a little kid anymore. His mother and father have to be told more explicitly that he doesn't want to be treated like a baby anymore, but Mam just gets it.
Quote #4
I didn't usually pay much attention to dresses that ladies wore but this one looked special the way the wide belt fastened tight around her middle like it was dividing her into two parts.
That first day Mrs. Worthington had looked about the same age as my mother but she looked younger this time. Almost as young as Rat's sister who was still in college. (2.62-63)
So far, Victor has been the kind of kid who's just focused on hiding his stutter and playing baseball. But all of a sudden he finds himself noticing Mrs. Worthington and how her pretty dresses hug her body. What's going on?
Quote #5
I had gone from being yelled at to being called Sweetie all in the same week. The way she said Sweetie was nothing like how my mother said it. Mrs. Worthington seemed like a different lady the second time I saw her. A very pretty lady. (2.83)
It's pretty obvious that Victor is growing up in more ways than one—he's noticing attractive women for the first time and finds himself looking forward to delivering Mrs. Worthington's paper each morning. Ooh la la…
Quote #6
I had decided to wear long pants instead of my regular shorts for the first Friday of collecting. If I started stuttering when people answered the doorbell at least I would look more grown-up doing it with my legs covered. (3.28)
Now that Victor feels more grown-up with his job and his thoughts about pretty ladies, he figures that he might as well look the part, too. So he dresses like his idea of a grown-up… which is basically just someone who wears pants. (We feel you, Victor.)
Quote #7
I knew if I told Mam that Ara T had my knife and wouldn't give it back that she would search him out and get my knife back in nothing flat. But I couldn't tell Mam I had talked to Ara T again. Anyway. If I was going to be collecting and handling the route on my own then I needed to start figuring out how to solve my own problems. (4.43)
Victor is getting to the age where he doesn't want to have to rely on his mom, his dad, or Mam to fight his battles for him. He wants to be able to do things himself, and sometimes that means confronting some scary characters like Ara T.
Quote #8
I would be glad to be a grown-up for two reasons. The first reason was that I was hoping to get over my stutter. I knew that some grown-ups stuttered but I also knew that some lucky kids grew out of it… The second reason was that I would be smarter and could figure out what to do with the feelings down inside me. I wanted to help Mam more than anything and I wanted to help Mrs. Worthington but I didn't have any answers. (9.20)
Victor doesn't just want to be a grown-up so that he can solve his own problems; je also wants to be smarter and taken more seriously so that he can help other people, like Mam and Mrs. Worthington.
Quote #9
I know a kid is supposed to respect grown-ups who make the rules and also respect God who knows how everything is supposed to work but I couldn't get over the feeling that neither one of them was doing a very good job. (11.59)
As he grows older, Victor starts to develop his own opinions about things instead of just blindly following authority figures. And he decides that all these rules about racial segregation are completely ridiculous.
Quote #10
A month before I wouldn't have said anything to Willie. I would have just kept my mouth shut and stewed about him taking my bundle. The route was changing me.
I didn't know if I was going to tell Rat about standing up to Willie or about all my good conversations with Mr. Spiro. I knew I couldn't tell him about Mrs. Worthington. At least for a while. (14.16-17)
In the span of just one short month, Victor's done a whole lot of growing up. He's gotten more sure of himself and also has a lot of new experiences to mull over, especially when it comes to the adults in his life.