How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #7
I lowered my head and closed my eyes. I could see a picture—a scene in my mind's eye, a familiar scene. It was the same one that flashed in my mind every time Gigi told me the story of my birth. Yes, I always hated when she told me that story. Something was always wrong with it. (27.7)
Miracle might have a lot of issues, but she's definitely not stupid—as Dr. DeAngelis points out, she's never entirely believed Gigi's story about how her mom died. The image of her mother walking out in front of an ambulance and somehow not seeing it just doesn't add up.
Quote #8
"Miracle, you're fourteen. You know the difference between fact and fantasy. You know what's real and what isn't." (28.18)
It might not seem like Miracle knows the difference between fantasy and reality, but she actually does. Gigi has just taught her the skills of denial extremely well, and part of Miracle's recovery is learning to recognize the truth and accept it rather than hide from it.
Quote #9
I awoke now with a sudden flash of understanding, a knowing that part of me had stopped believing in her the day Juleen Presque had called Gigi a phony. (28.52)
Remember the Emily Dickinson quote from the epigraph about how "the truth must dazzle gradually" (if not, swing by the "What's Up With the Epigraph?" section)? That's kind of what's going on here. Juleen does get through to Miracle that day when she brings her the books—Miracle's reaction of setting herself on fire is proof that the knowledge penetrated. Nonetheless, she can't entirely accept it all at once. Beliefs she's been taught to rely on her whole life can't simply disappear.