He used to wear an astronaut helmet sometimes. But Ialways knew it was him underneath the helmet. All the kids inthe neighborhood knew it was him. Everyone has seen August atsome point or another. We all know his name, though he doesn‘tknow ours.
- P138
And it wasn‘t toprotect this August kid from Julian, who I knew would be a jerk about the whole thing. It was because when I heard Jamie talking about how he had run away from August going ‘Ahhh,
I suddenly felt really bad. The thing is, there are always going to be kids like Julian who are jerks. But if a little kid like Jamie,
who‘s usually a nice enough kid, can be that mean, then a kid like August doesn‘t stand a chance in middle school.
- P141
"Yeah, well, this is more of a boy thing," she explained. "Thegirls are staying neutral. Except Savanna‘s group, because they‘regoing out with Julian‘s group. But to everybody else this is reallya boy war."
- P172
my family‘s not like this at all. my mom and dad got divorcedwhen i was four and they pretty much hate each other. i grewup spending half of every week in my dad‘s apartment in chelseaand the other half in my mom‘s place in brooklyn heights. ihave a half brother who‘s five years older than me and barelyknows i exist. for as long as i can remember, i‘ve felt like myparents could hardly wait for me to be old enough to take careof myself. "you can go to the store by yourself." "here‘s the key tothe apartment." it‘s funny how there‘s a word like overprotectiveto describe some parents, but no word that means the opposite.
what word do you use to describe parents who don‘t protectenough? underprotective? neglectful? self-involved? lame? all ofthe above.
- P192
Anyway, it‘s not that I care that people react to me. LikeI‘ve said a gazillion times: I‘m used to that by now. I don‘t let itbother me. It‘s like when you go outside and it‘s drizzling a little.
You don‘t put on boots for a drizzle. You don‘t even open yourumbrella. You walk through it and barely notice your hair getting wet. - P207
|