How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
But all families had those kinds of arguments, didn't they? It didn't mean it was okay to run off with another man. Especially the coach of your husband and daughter's favorite team. (1.37)
Sure Mclean's parents fought from time to time, but she doesn't think that's reason enough for her mom to cheat on her dad, have another man's babies, and tear apart their happy family. After all, that is pretty harsh.
Quote #2
She could have her bright and shiny new life, with a new husband and new kids, but she didn't get to have me, too. I decided I was going with my dad. (2.8)
When her parents divorce, Mclean knows that they can't just split their family down the middle—after all, she can't be cut into two equal pieces. Because she feels so betrayed, she decides that her dad deserves to have her support more, while her mom is a treasonous traitor.
Quote #3
I pulled my list out of my pocket, unfolding it on the bar between us. "Okay," I began. "All the utilities are up and running, except the cable's still not getting half the channels, but that should be fixed by tomorrow. Recycling is on Thursday, garbage pickup is Tuesday. I can register at the school on Monday morning, just need to bring my transcripts and come early." (2.49)
Talk about an organized kid—whenever they move into a new town, Mclean takes on all the house set-up duties for her dad. Now that it's just the two of them, she's had to take on the role of caretaker to her dad too.
Quote #4
As he picked up his phone and left the room, I looked back at Dave's house. His parents seemed nice enough, hardly the strict Gulag types Heather had described. But then again, as Riley had said, no one was really normal, and you couldn't tell a thing from the outside anyway. (3.285)
No family is perfect, and you can't tell what complicated things are going on inside any household when you're just an outsider. That's how Mclean feels when she sees Dave's relationship with his parents—in a way, it's just as messy as her own relationship with her mom.
Quote #5
Ever since the divorce, and my ensuing that I did in fact have a choice and an opinion concerning it, I'd justified every bit of my anger toward my mom simply because of how she'd wrecked my dad. (6.197)
Mclean's mom certainly messed up big. She's going to have to do a lot more than invite her daughter to the beach and send her books about college applications to win her back.
Quote #6
But in the real world, you couldn't just split a family down the middle, mom on one side, dad on the other, with the child divided equally between. It was like when you ripped a piece of paper into two: no matter how you tried, the seams never fit exactly right again. (6.218)
Like a paper doll, Mclean's been split in two and can't be repaired perfectly again. She'll never be able to see her family—even with their good memories—in the same light again. What a bummer.
Quote #7
It had been weird, I had to admit, to be having such a, well, pleasant conversation with my mom. Like once again, the beach had somehow become a safe place for us to be together, separate from the conflict of her house or this one. (12.27)
Well, this is new—Mclean hasn't talked to her mom without resentment or anger for a while (which is pretty much standard teenage behavior). But now that they're trying to move past the divorce, they can make attempts to start communicating normally again.
Quote #8
She'd never want for anything. And even though I knew that for her, and even Connor and Maddie, this was a good thing, it made me feel sad in a way I wasn't sure I even understood. (14.55)
It's good to see that her mom and stepsiblings will be well cared for, but it still makes Mclean pretty sad because it just drives home the point that they're two separate families now—complete with separate lives.
Quote #9
It was my mom, and my dad was right beside her. They looked at me, then at the room behind me, their faces as tired as my own. "Oh, Mclean," my mom said, putting a hand to her mouth. "Thank God. There you are." (15.31)
Mclean may think that her parents don't care about her that much—after all, her mom's busy with her new family and her dad's got restaurant business to take care of—but they'll still go to the ends of the earth for her. Or at least to the Poseidon.
Quote #10
It was all so familiar, like a place I knew well, even though I'd never been there before. I looked at my mom beside me, and my dad across the table, both of them reading their menus, here with just me, just us, for once. (16.93)
For the first time in a long time, Mclean's whole family is together in one place again. It's not the same family—it can't be since her parents are divorced now—but it's still good to have the people that she loves most in the world in one place.