How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"No…" I said, "life isn't like TV. On TV, everything gets wrapped up quickly. On TV there are heroes who save the world from people like you." (2.226)
Wouldn't it be cool if life was how it is on television? Tip's got a point, though, because as much as J.Lo wants to waltz in and know everything just because he's watched I Love Lucy, real life doesn't come with a laugh track and a happy ending in less than thirty minutes.
Quote #2
Yes! A storage device! It holds up every word she say or think for long time. Then the Boov did call her back to remove this mole. Its information was to planted in all the Boov that was to live in Gratuity's area! Gratuitymom is very helpful! (2.237)
J.Lo isn't ashamed of what the Boov did to Tip's mom because he doesn't realize it would hurt Tip. He learns that even though something looks one way, it can look another from a different angle. To the Boov, what they do to Tip's mom is a totally normal thing. To humans, however, not so much—they don't love when their people are stolen.
Quote #3
When I found her, she was standing next to the Snow Queen's Castle, and it was all right, she still looked like Mom. But no; it was too late. She did look like Happy Mouse. She was Happy Mouse, standing in the dark, as tall as the castle. (2.384)
When Tip closes her eyes for a minute, she sees this picture in her mind. It's creepy, to be sure, but it also shows us show she's always thinking about how things appear and what's really underneath. For her mom, sometimes things are happier on the outside than they really are on the inside.
Quote #4
"This place is just perfect every time," Mom had said as we waited to pay our sixty dollars to get in. It was maybe the third time we'd been to Happy Mouse Kingdom together, and maybe the twelfth time I'd heard this speech. "And even after thousands of people walk through here today, even after all the ticker tape and the Invisible Hobo Parade, it'll be perfect tomorrow, too. You'll see." (2.488)
Happy Mouse Kingdom sounds just like Disneyland, doesn't it? We're thinking it's definitely supposed to, anyway. While Tip's surprised to see everything indeed stay clean, we're about to learn that there's more than meets the eye here… as is so often the case.
Quote #5
Our parents worked here. Alberto's dad and my mom. They have two of every building— every big one, anyway. During the day they clean the one underground , repaint whatever needs repainting, fix stuff, that sort of thing. Then, in the middle of the night, flip! (2.530)
Cleaning the park every night is a big job, so the people at Happy Mouse Kingdom just double everything to make sure the place is always perfect. Okay, okay, that's a neat trick. But why is there such an emphasis on perfection? What's this really saying about dirt and trash? Importantly, the appearance of perfection is a deception.
Quote #6
The surface of it seemed to move. It seemed to shudder and writhe. But I thought it might have been a trick of the air. A mirage. (2.672)
There's a long description about the Gorg spaceship's appearance. It's not just that it's big and overwhelming (although it is), but that it is made of skin, too. We think there's such detail given so we know just how dark and twisty those Gorg aliens really are.
Quote #7
"Do you recognize the alien? Is it a real kind of people?"
"Hm. No. Looks unlike any race I know. Lookses a little like a M'Plaah. They are a sort of octopus for milking." (3.394)
For a book filled with aliens, we aren't asked to think about the specifics about them too much, except for a couple times. Still, how the aliens look plays a big part in whether Tip trusts them or not—and the fact that the Gorg and Boov are so different from humans makes her want to stay away from them.
Quote #8
It might seem crazy that we passed him off as easy as we did, but I think people mostly see what they expect to see. You could look at us and suppose we were a girl and her alien friend wearing a Halloween costume in August, or you could see two kids being kids. Which would you see, honestly? (3.1065)
Sure some people pick up on the fact that J.Lo is really a Boov dressed in a ghost costume, but most people take the Halloween costume at face value. We think Tip's right about people seeing what they want to see. It's just easier that way.
Quote #9
We were near Tucson now, and my heart was buzzing in my chest. Two glowing Boov ships whizzed overhead, and somewhere in the desert to the west came a very loud and bright explosion. All this seemed totally appropriate to me— I was excited beyond words. (3.1104)
Weird stuff starts to become the new normal for Tip in this book. At first, seeing an alien spaceship is wacky, scary, and confusing, but after a while, it's expected. She doesn't flinch when she sees the spaceships overhead because it's what she anticipates seeing there.