Post a quotation you found thought-provoking from the novel. Explain why you found it interesting. Also, you must post a comment on another classmate's post. This post is due by Monday, October 18th at 11:59 p.m.
"How's my skin?" she asked. "Breathtaking," said Roy,..."(Bardi 29). I thought his quote was thought provoking because Roy never really seems to have much interest in anything. This is one of the rare times that we see Roy being compassionate and show interest in something.
"'Fred was the man who founded us and found us and brought us into the light. That's how we say it, usually. He brought us into the light.' 'How exactly did he do this?' Roy asked. I looked up at him and saw that he had a little smile on his face." I found this quote interesting because Roy finds this religion so absurd, when really it's beliefs are very close to those of christianity, but with different names and slightly different ideas. Because he's been raised knowing of christianity, though, he finds it normal. It's very ignorant of him to mock her religion and her morals just because he does not know of it. To someone who has never heard of christianity I'm sure the stories of the bible would sound just as peculiar.
p.143:"...Each ornament reminds me of when I was a little kid.I remember the elf, the tiny little house with angels on it, the nutcracker soldier, the signs of the zodiac.(Cancer for me, Sagittarius for mom. Dad is a Leo, and his sign hangs on his and Jemma's tree.)" This quote was though provoking becuase it made me want to figure out what each sign symbolized. Therefore, when I looked it up it was interesting to see what kind of personalities the people in the quote have that corresponds to their zodiac sign.
"When I think about it later, I realize the truth is, I'm jealous. And its the worst kind of jealously, the two-way kind." (Pg 136) I found this quote provoking because Heather finally admits that shes jealous. Throughout the Book of Heather before, you could see the jealousy build up when Mary Fred goes to school. Mary Fred sits with the jocks and cheerleaders, all the jocks like her and all the cheerleaders want her to join the team. Heather is jealous of the former dork which I find interesting.
" 'Dont you get tired of just sitting?' I asked Heather. She looked at me like i had said something rediculous.'I get tired if i don't sit.' " (Bardi 39) I found this interersting because it shows just how opposite Mary's life is in compairison to Heathers. This also helps us see Mary as sort of an interloper in Heathers life.
"I guess people don't always know when they don't know what they're doing. That's what life is like, you just kind of stab around in the dark until you find out, I guess." (104).
I liked the metaphor this quote uses to describe life. I also think each character in the book can relate to this quote. Alice is so distraught because of her divorce and it prevents her from being happy, while Roy pretty much gave up on his life. Heather lives her life boringly (before she came to be bestfriends with Mary Fred, she would constantly watch t.v), when she could be making much more of it. Last, after Mary Fred has to transition to a completely new family and social environment. All in all, I think that each character has "stabbed around in the dark" at some point, in order to stop and realize what they are going to do with their life.
"When I thought of the name 'Fred Brown,' it made me want to draw a little F and B in my mind. Mary Fred was definitely getting to me." This quote is important because it shows the major impact Mary Fred had on the family she came to live with.
"I started putting things in it like my Beanie Babies and my pink stuffed dog, but just as quickly I realized that Mama was not going to like that..." (Bardi 238)
I found this interesting because Mary Fred is still concerned about the Book of Fred and what her thinks when they were both wrong about the Big Cat.
"Then, as if in slow motion, instead of turning to the left and following the path of the driveway, the car plunged forward. Right before it drove into the crowd, in the moment before I saw several people just go flying right through the air, I heard my own voice screaming and screaming, "No! No!" and I didn't stop for a long time" (175).
I found this quote interesting and thought provoking, because after I read this I had so many questions running through my mind. Like, Did he mean to hit the kids, what happens to Mary Fred, was Dylan Magnuson a loner? Along with all my questions I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. Also, I believe this quotation helps the reader predict what will happen in the book.
"I found myself running over to him and grabbing him by the arm. 'How is she? Is she okay?' asked a hysterical voice that was coming from my mouth." (205).
I thought this quote really showed how close this odd family has gotten. After Mary Fred gets hurt, even Roy finds himself going crazy out of worry for her. He doesn't seem to recognize himself he says, "asked a hysterical voice that was coming from my voice". I think this references to a theme of how something might look bad at first, but later turns out to be a good thing, since Mary Fred has really been a positive influence.
"He floored his accelerator and the car made a little screeching noise, like it didn't really want to go anywhere bu was beg forced to, and then suddenly it just shot right past me, going much too fast into the circular driveway in front of the school. Then, as if in slow motion, instead of turning to the left and following the path of the driveway, the car plunged forward. Right before it drove into the crowd, in the moment before I saw several people just go flying right through the air, I heard my own voice screaming and screaming, 'No! No!' and I didn't stop for a long time" (Bardi 175). I found this quote interesting because it gave me a shock. It made me start making predictions of what was going to happen next in the book. This quote made me want to keep reading on. It made me wonder what happened to Mary and the other kids, what happened to Dylan, why did Dylan do that, and what was Heather thinking. This quote contains many unanswered questions. I believe that this quote may be the climax of the book.
"Alice turned around and looked at me, and I could tell that she wanted to comfort me but was stopping herself, like someone had told her to practice Tough Love." (Bardi 220)
I was surprised that Alice didn't comfort Roy. I understand that she is disapointed with him for doing drugs, but she seems like a character who would break down and comfort anyone, no matter what they did wrong.
""I need-" I stopped in the middle of the sentence, not exactly sure what I was saying." (43)
This quote sort of made me wonder why MF is so upset. I know it had just been about two day since she was taken from her family but she always is patient, hard working, and always is thinking that it won't matter because the Big Cat is coming and I'm religous. Yet at this part something just snaps inside MF and it makes me rrmember that MF is a teenage girl and that though she tries to hide it she's probably just as scared and upset as anyone torn from their family would be.
"She was wearing a dress the color of mud, she hadn't shaved her legs,in her hair was in these weird braids" (113).
This quote interested me because it describes how not only did Mary Fred's religion make her believe in different things, but it also made her dress unusually and influenced a lack of hygene. It is weird for Heather because she is used to see colorful outfits and girls who shave.
“For a while, I lay there in the dark, trying to sleep, but i still didn't feel the least bit tired. When I’d close my eyes, I'd see Cyrus at the front of the room with his cell phone, or next to me with the naked blonde girl, or else I’d see Mama and the way she looked at me just before I said good-bye to her. Then I saw myself running through the woods, and at first I felt scared again, but suddenly the Littles were skipping alongside me, playing…” (Bardi 291)
This quote is explaining the dreams or visions that Mary Fred is having, these show the M.F. is almost at a point where she can no longer think clearly. All the traumatic events that M.F. has gone through in her life who could blame her? She’s has been through two cults and many unfamiliar experiences in the real world which she had never been previously exposed to. A sense of mental instability is given off by these thoughts that she is having.
"'That's Mary Fred,' I said. 'She lives with us.' I said it like I was daring any of them to say anything about her." I find this one of the most interesting quotes in the book because it really shows how Roy cares for people deep down. It also really shows Mary Fred's influence over her foster family. She became a major part of their lives and became a major part of who they are supposed to be. c.barton
"Every day, she sat in the living room with The Book of Fred by her side, but though she had the book open and seemed to be trying to read, her eyes increasingly kept drifting to the TV," (Bardi 61). This quote is thought provoking because Mary Fred is starting to follow the Lackers' ways. In her religion, Mary isn't allowed to watch TV but this quote shows her increasing interest in television. Mary Fred knows that she is forbidden to watch TV, but shes starting to disregard her religious traditions.
"It amazes me even now that I could go that long without her knowing about the heroin. I just thought it was so obvious-the signs were so clear"(Bardi 180).
This quote is thought provoking because it shows that Roy is aware of his problem, but at the time he feels that he is unable to do anything about. He feels he has to continue on this routine to stay sane. It not only shows this, but it shows just how unobservant Alice is. It shows how completely she ignores her surroundings, even when they are so obvious.
"I begin to worry more and more every day, and when we got up in the morninig. I would see M.F. in a whole different way, not as my pal who was fun to be with but as a liability." (Bardi 119)
This quote made me think of how worried Heather is due to the fact Mary Fred is different. As school comes closer and closer, Heather is contemplating how she will make M.F. "cool" so she doesnt make her look bad. This shows a charecteristic of Heather and how she is very self conscious about how she looks and who she hangs out with.
"I thought of asking her where we were going, but it didn't matter that much to me. I knew that wherever it was, Mama and Papa wouldn't be there, and I would dwell among Lackers, like the book said not to....The thought made me want to cry" (Bardi 6).
I found this quote to be important because it gives the reader an idea of what Mary Fred's feelings toward meeting her new family are. It shows that she would rather stick with her old way of life. But looking back on the novel after reading more of it, this quote is also important because it shows how Mary Fred has changed since the beginning of the novel. Of course she misses her old family, but she's grown to love and care about her new family. Also, she's not as concerned with every little rule in "the book" and is starting to break away from some of her old traditions, which is a drastic change from the feelings shown in this quote.
"How's my skin?" she asked. "Breathtaking," said Roy,..."(Bardi 29). I thought his quote was thought provoking because Roy never really seems to have much interest in anything. This is one of the rare times that we see Roy being compassionate and show interest in something.
ReplyDelete"'Fred was the man who founded us and found us and brought us into the light. That's how we say it, usually. He brought us into the light.' 'How exactly did he do this?' Roy asked. I looked up at him and saw that he had a little smile on his face." I found this quote interesting because Roy finds this religion so absurd, when really it's beliefs are very close to those of christianity, but with different names and slightly different ideas. Because he's been raised knowing of christianity, though, he finds it normal. It's very ignorant of him to mock her religion and her morals just because he does not know of it. To someone who has never heard of christianity I'm sure the stories of the bible would sound just as peculiar.
ReplyDeleteSorry, that quote was from page 36.
ReplyDeletep.143:"...Each ornament reminds me of when
ReplyDeleteI was a little kid.I remember the elf, the tiny little house with angels on it, the nutcracker soldier, the signs of the zodiac.(Cancer for me, Sagittarius for mom. Dad is a Leo, and his sign hangs on his and Jemma's tree.)" This quote was though provoking becuase it made me want to figure out what each sign symbolized. Therefore, when I looked it up it was interesting to see what kind of personalities the people in the quote have that corresponds to their zodiac sign.
"When I think about it later, I realize the truth is, I'm jealous. And its the worst kind of jealously, the two-way kind." (Pg 136)
ReplyDeleteI found this quote provoking because Heather finally admits that shes jealous. Throughout the Book of Heather before, you could see the jealousy build up when Mary Fred goes to school. Mary Fred sits with the jocks and cheerleaders, all the jocks like her and all the cheerleaders want her to join the team. Heather is jealous of the former dork which I find interesting.
" 'Dont you get tired of just sitting?' I asked Heather. She looked at me like i had said something rediculous.'I get tired if i don't sit.' " (Bardi 39) I found this interersting because it shows just how opposite Mary's life is in compairison to Heathers. This also helps us see Mary as sort of an interloper in Heathers life.
ReplyDelete"I guess people don't always know when they don't know what they're doing. That's what life is like, you just kind of stab around in the dark until you find out, I guess." (104).
ReplyDeleteI liked the metaphor this quote uses to describe life. I also think each character in the book can relate to this quote. Alice is so distraught because of her divorce and it prevents her from being happy, while Roy pretty much gave up on his life. Heather lives her life boringly (before she came to be bestfriends with Mary Fred, she would constantly watch t.v), when she could be making much more of it. Last, after Mary Fred has to transition to a completely new family and social environment. All in all, I think that each character has "stabbed around in the dark" at some point, in order to stop and realize what they are going to do with their life.
"When I thought of the name 'Fred Brown,' it made me want to draw a little F and B in my mind. Mary Fred was definitely getting to me."
ReplyDeleteThis quote is important because it shows the major impact Mary Fred had on the family she came to live with.
(Bardi 68) ^
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"I started putting things in it like my Beanie Babies and my pink stuffed dog, but just as quickly I realized that Mama was not going to like that..." (Bardi 238)
ReplyDeleteI found this interesting because Mary Fred is still concerned about the Book of Fred and what her thinks when they were both wrong about the Big Cat.
"Then, as if in slow motion, instead of turning to the left and following the path of the driveway, the car plunged forward. Right before it drove into the crowd, in the moment before I saw several people just go flying right through the air, I heard my own voice screaming and screaming, "No! No!" and I didn't stop for a long time" (175).
ReplyDeleteI found this quote interesting and thought provoking, because after I read this I had so many questions running through my mind. Like, Did he mean to hit the kids, what happens to Mary Fred, was Dylan Magnuson a loner? Along with all my questions I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. Also, I believe this quotation helps the reader predict what will happen in the book.
"I found myself running over to him and grabbing him by the arm. 'How is she? Is she okay?' asked a hysterical voice that was coming from my mouth." (205).
ReplyDeleteI thought this quote really showed how close this odd family has gotten. After Mary Fred gets hurt, even Roy finds himself going crazy out of worry for her. He doesn't seem to recognize himself he says, "asked a hysterical voice that was coming from my voice". I think this references to a theme of how something might look bad at first, but later turns out to be a good thing, since Mary Fred has really been a positive influence.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"He floored his accelerator and the car made a little screeching noise, like it didn't really want to go anywhere bu was beg forced to, and then suddenly it just shot right past me, going much too fast into the circular driveway in front of the school. Then, as if in slow motion, instead of turning to the left and following the path of the driveway, the car plunged forward. Right before it drove into the crowd, in the moment before I saw several people just go flying right through the air, I heard my own voice screaming and screaming, 'No! No!' and I didn't stop for a long time" (Bardi 175). I found this quote interesting because it gave me a shock. It made me start making predictions of what was going to happen next in the book. This quote made me want to keep reading on. It made me wonder what happened to Mary and the other kids, what happened to Dylan, why did Dylan do that, and what was Heather thinking. This quote contains many unanswered questions. I believe that this quote may be the climax of the book.
ReplyDelete"Alice turned around and looked at me, and I could tell that she wanted to comfort me but was stopping herself, like someone had told her to practice Tough Love." (Bardi 220)
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that Alice didn't comfort Roy. I understand that she is disapointed with him for doing drugs, but she seems like a character who would break down and comfort anyone, no matter what they did wrong.
""I need-" I stopped in the middle of the sentence, not exactly sure what I was saying." (43)
ReplyDeleteThis quote sort of made me wonder why MF is so upset. I know it had just been about two day since she was taken from her family but she always is patient, hard working, and always is thinking that it won't matter because the Big Cat is coming and I'm religous. Yet at this part something just snaps inside MF and it makes me rrmember that MF is a teenage girl and that though she tries to hide it she's probably just as scared and upset as anyone torn from their family would be.
"She was wearing a dress the color of mud, she hadn't shaved her legs,in her hair was in these weird braids" (113).
ReplyDeleteThis quote interested me because it describes how not only did Mary Fred's religion make her believe in different things, but it also made her dress unusually and influenced a lack of hygene. It is weird for Heather because she is used to see colorful outfits and girls who shave.
“For a while, I lay there in the dark, trying to sleep, but i still didn't feel the least bit tired. When I’d close my eyes, I'd see Cyrus at the front of the room with his cell phone, or next to me with the naked blonde girl, or else I’d see Mama and the way she looked at me just before I said good-bye to her. Then I saw myself running through the woods, and at first I felt scared again, but suddenly the Littles were skipping alongside me, playing…” (Bardi 291)
ReplyDeleteThis quote is explaining the dreams or visions that Mary Fred is having, these show the M.F. is almost at a point where she can no longer think clearly. All the traumatic events that M.F. has gone through in her life who could blame her? She’s has been through two cults and many unfamiliar experiences in the real world which she had never been previously exposed to. A sense of mental instability is given off by these thoughts that she is having.
"'That's Mary Fred,' I said. 'She lives with us.' I said it like I was daring any of them to say anything about her."
ReplyDeleteI find this one of the most interesting quotes in the book because it really shows how Roy cares for people deep down. It also really shows Mary Fred's influence over her foster family. She became a major part of their lives and became a major part of who they are supposed to be.
c.barton
"Every day, she sat in the living room with The Book of Fred by her side, but though she had the book open and seemed to be trying to read, her eyes increasingly kept drifting to the TV," (Bardi 61).
ReplyDeleteThis quote is thought provoking because Mary Fred is starting to follow the Lackers' ways. In her religion, Mary isn't allowed to watch TV but this quote shows her increasing interest in television. Mary Fred knows that she is forbidden to watch TV, but shes starting to disregard her religious traditions.
"It amazes me even now that I could go that long without her knowing about the heroin. I just thought it was so obvious-the signs were so clear"(Bardi 180).
ReplyDeleteThis quote is thought provoking because it shows that Roy is aware of his problem, but at the time he feels that he is unable to do anything about. He feels he has to continue on this routine to stay sane. It not only shows this, but it shows just how unobservant Alice is. It shows how completely she ignores her surroundings, even when they are so obvious.
"I begin to worry more and more every day, and when we got up in the morninig. I would see M.F. in a whole different way, not as my pal who was fun to be with but as a liability." (Bardi 119)
ReplyDeleteThis quote made me think of how worried Heather is due to the fact Mary Fred is different. As school comes closer and closer, Heather is contemplating how she will make M.F. "cool" so she doesnt make her look bad. This shows a charecteristic of Heather and how she is very self conscious about how she looks and who she hangs out with.
"I thought of asking her where we were going, but it didn't matter that much to me. I knew that wherever it was, Mama and Papa wouldn't be there, and I would dwell among Lackers, like the book said not to....The thought made me want to cry" (Bardi 6).
ReplyDeleteI found this quote to be important because it gives the reader an idea of what Mary Fred's feelings toward meeting her new family are. It shows that she would rather stick with her old way of life. But looking back on the novel after reading more of it, this quote is also important because it shows how Mary Fred has changed since the beginning of the novel. Of course she misses her old family, but she's grown to love and care about her new family. Also, she's not as concerned with every little rule in "the book" and is starting to break away from some of her old traditions, which is a drastic change from the feelings shown in this quote.