How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
All essays will be sent to the National Time Capsule Committee in Washington, D.C. The committee will choose one winning essay to be buried with the National Time Capsule, which will be uncovered one hundred years from now. (1.3)
Before we learn what happened to Tip and J.Lo, we learn about the essay contest; after all, it's the reason Tip sits down to write her story in the first place. We're also aware that the purpose of the essay contest is to put the stories in a time capsule for people to read one hundred years from now. Hmmm… Why a time capsule?
Quote #2
Remember: the capsule will be dug up a hundred years from now, and the people of the future won't know what it was like to live during the invasion. If your essay wins the contest, they'll be reading it to find that out. (1.115)
Her teacher tells Tip that her essay isn't so great because it doesn't give enough specifics. This highlights the fact that people living in 2023 won't know what Moving Day was or remember anything about the Boov invasion, aside from what they read in history books. In other words, over time, people's stories fade away.
Quote #3
If my life were a movie, you could expect that musical montage of scenes right now, the kind lazy directors use to show time passing. You know: there would be a bunch of funny, short clips of Mom and me at the store trying on different outfits, funny hats, and now we're trying to make eggnog, but the lid comes off the blender and the stuff splatters the walls and us, and we're laughing, and now cut to us Christmas caroling outside someone's house, but, whoops! they're Jews, and all the while "Jingle Bell Rock" or something is playing. (2.61)
Going through she story, Tip often pauses and presents time as though this we were in a movie. Why do you think she does this? Why not just tell us "not much happened during that week" or pick up with "a week later"? It certainly makes us think about time more.
Quote #4
It made me think I could stop time in the cemetery with a wave of my hand, or summon Mom to my side with her name. Currently it was very busy, thinking over and over about how to go back in time, and what I should do when I got there. (2.107)
After her mom gets taken up, time stands still for Tip. Can you blame her? We're not sure we'd know what to do either. This makes her think about how slowly time moves when your whole life changes.
Quote #5
J.Lo fiddled again, and again there was the hum. What happened next looked like one of those time-lapse films where you watch a flower grow. Both of the vials buzzed and filled quickly with liquid. There was a hundred times more gas than when he'd started. (2.210)
Showing her the cloning machine, J.Lo impresses Tip for the first time. Where can we get our hands on one of those? We'd love not to have to buy gas again. It's cool how it doesn't just duplicate the gas, but actually goes to a different place or time and brings it back.
Quote #6
Like any silence, it wasn't really silent at all, but had the same thick drone of Billy's mouth breathing. And the more time passed, the bigger it got. (2.393)
Between the awkward silence, and J.Lo and Tip hating each other in the car, time goes by so slowly. Again Tip reminds us that—even when the world is under attack by aliens—time moves at a glacial rate when you're bored or annoyed. It's just another way we are like Tip.
Quote #7
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)
At first Tip can't figure out how Happy Mouse Kingdom keeps everything so perfect all the time, but then she solves the mystery: They extend time. No, not literally—they just have two of everything and then interchange them every evening. It's brilliant because they manipulate time, Tip thinks. They create the illusion of time never passing because nothing ever seems to change.
Quote #8
J.Lo was either one of those people with no real concept of time, or else he actually didn't know how long a minute was. I crouched down to have a look at the lock on the gate. (3.186)
J.Lo says to wait twenty minutes, but Tip's not sure if that's actually twenty, or another random number since to J.Lo, time is not important or relevant. Maybe it's not something Boov care about, or maybe it's just J.Lo, but time seems to only matter to Tip in the book.
Quote #9
"Yes? What are we going to do?" I grinned and said, "Feedback loop."
"Feedback loop?"
"Feedback loop." (3.1404-1406)
It should come as no surprise that when Tip and J.Lo figure out how to save the world, it involves the teleclone device, and as such, time. Oh—and cats. Lots of cats.
Quote #10
I saved the world. I saved the whole human race. For the rest of my life, even if I live to be a hundred and ten, I will never again do anything as fantastic and important as what I did when I was eleven. I could win an Oscar and fix the ozone layer. I could cure all known diseases and I'll still feel like my Uncle Roy, who used to be a star quarterback but now just sells hot tubs. I'm going to have to figure out how to live with this, and I sure don't need everyone I meet bringing it up all the time. (3.1576)
Tip is super proud of saving the world (who wouldn't be?), but she's no tattletale—she doesn't bother telling anyone because she figures it won't do any good. Here, she thinks about time in another sense: Tip starts to contemplate the future and how it will never be as good as the past.