How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
My grandparents aren't the most open-/minded people in/the world, she says. He definitely learned/it from them. Her hand skips across/the seat, pounces on/my leg. But, hey, aren't you glad I chose/to break the cycle of hate? (24.62-64)
Jenna's joking, of course, but the truth is that she's perpetuating the cycle of hate against herself by putting herself in dangerous situations. If you like who you are, you tend to protect yourself from harm.
Quote #8
I have to admit/I felt sorry for the guy. He had no idea/that Dad is stuck in the pre-civil rights/era. (26.8-9)
Jenna brings Andre to the restaurant largely as a form of denial about her dad's wedding. She doesn't want to deal with the fact that he's getting remarried, so she creates a distraction—she knows that bringing Andre to the restaurant will make him focus on something other than his much younger fiancée for a minute.
Quote #9
I can't make Jenna's sister stop being a star./I can't change last quarter's report card/so her parents will let/her get her driver's license./I can't insist/her father stop being a racist jerk. (40.6-8)
Andre sees that Jenna's acting out is a way of getting attention, but he can't change the circumstances that make her do it. He also ignores the fact that dating him is one of the ways she's acting out.