How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Plus I promised Mam I would never tell what happened to my yellow-handled knife. Mam might say that typing is cheating but I need to see the words on paper to make sure everything happened the way my brain remembers it. I trust words on paper a lot more than words in the air. (1.3)
It's tough for Victor to communicate his stories in the way that most other people do—through speech—but with a typewriter, he can tell his entire story without stuttering and tripping up.
Quote #2
The funny way I talk is not so much like fat pigs in cartoons as I just get stuck on a sound and try to push the word out. Sometimes it comes out after a little pushing but other times I turn red in the face and lose my breath and get dizzy circles going around in my head. There's not much I can do about it except think of another word or keep on pushing. (1.4)
Poor Victor knows that his stutter makes him seem funny to some people, but his problem is no joke. It's something that he struggles with every day of his life, and he's doing speech therapy so he can overcome it.
Quote #3
The reason I hate talking to people who don't know me is because when they first see me I look like any other kid. Two eyes. Two arms. Two legs. Crew-cut hair. Nothing special. But when I open my mouth I turn into something else. Most people don't take the time to try to understand what's wrong with me and probably just figure I'm not right in the head. They try to get rid of me as fast as possible. (1.21)
The fact that he stutters makes it so that Victor feels self-conscious when he first meets people. After all, he knows that they're expecting him to talk like any other kid… but when he opens his mouth they suddenly see him as "different."
Quote #4
I spelled out for Rat the right way to say it but he said he liked Wicked better. I've called it Wicked ever since because it's easier for me to say it that way. I get upset when other people use the wrong words since it's so easy for most everybody to make any sound they want. I guess I should be mad at myself for substituting Wicked for Wicker but you can always count on me to take the easy way out when it comes to getting words out of my mouth. (3.3)
One way Victor deals with his stutter is by coming up with different (a.k.a. easier to say) names for things. That's why he calls his best friend Rat instead of Art, and says "Wicked" furniture instead of wicker furniture.
Quote #5
I had never heard anyone say Shan't but I knew it was short for Shall Not. I loved contractions as much as I hated commas because when two words were rolled into one it meant there was one less words to stutter on. (3.81)
Victor has all sorts of shortcuts that he uses in order to make his stuttering problem not-so-apparent. He has to think a lot about words and their different meanings, as well as how he can combine words so that he doesn't have to say as much.
Quote #6
When Howdy Doody was talking to Buffalo Bob I would forget what they were saying and start pretending that I was a puppet and wishing that somebody would pull the strings to make my mouth move so I didn't stutter. (4.48)
Thinking about how he sounds when he talks is a huge preoccupation for Victor. He can't even watch a cartoon without being sad that he's not one of the puppets relying on someone else to say the words while he just opens and closes his mouth.
Quote #7
I had another talking trick that worked almost the same as tossing a pencil in the air or saying the words at the same time somebody else did. Talking was easier for me in a swing if I go the timing right and pushed off at the same time I started to say a word. I did this with Mam some and she said I ought to practice swinging and talking more because it smoothed my words out but there usually weren't many swings handy when I needed to talk to somebody. (5.37)
Victor has physical tricks that help him forget about his stutter momentarily, too. He throws things while saying a word, or swings at the same time. All of this helps him not overthink language and communication, and instead just let the words out.
Quote #8
Most grown-ups and especially my relatives and friends of my parents treated me about as well as could be expected without them knowing exactly what I was going through when I tried to talk. Some people tried to finish sentences for me and mostly would get them wrong. Some people just smiled a fake smile and waited on me to get my words out while they were looking around the room. (5.44)
The annoying thing about having a stutter is that other people get weird about it. Victor has to deal with grown-ups who do things like try to finish his sentences—and get it all wrong. Ugh.
Quote #9
That was the first time anybody had ever told me that I had a fighting chance. Even my teacher. The day I first met her I asked how long it would take for her to teach me to talk like a regular kid and she said just to do my exercises and not worry about the future. How could I not worry about my future if I was going to be stuttering all the time in it? (5.53)
He doesn't know Mr. Spiro that well, but Victor believes him when he says that someday, Victor won't stutter anymore. It's a relief to hear because he's always worried about stuttering for the rest of his life.
Quote #10
My father was all the time correcting my mother on her words. She would get close to the right one but close didn't cut it when it comes to words. And she always had to say that the way I talked was Stammering. Maybe it sounded better to her than Stuttering. (7.45)
Victor isn't the only one who has trouble communicating his thoughts. His mother has a different problem—she constantly uses the wrong word—but it's equally frustrating to her when she's trying to get a point across.