How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
It's an ugly sweater with red plastic buttons and a collar and sleeves all stretched out like you coulduse it for a jump rope. It's maybe a thousand years old and even if it belonged to me I wouldn't say so. (8)
The sweater represents an embarrassment for Rachel, but it also brings us to a hard-to-define sadness into her life. Just look at that description—the tattered thing even looks sad. It's the kind of sweater that you'd see and think, "Wow, that poor thing looks like it's been through a lot."
Quote #5
I don't know why but all of a sudden I'm feeling sick inside, like the part of me that's three wants to come out of my eyes, only I squeeze them shut tight and bite down on my teeth real hard and try to remember today I am eleven, eleven. (12)
Remember our quote from earlier. In both instances, the act of crying—the physical manifestation of sadness—is associated with being three years old. Like many children, Rachel associates getting older with being happier, which is why she wants to be one hundred and two. But as we saw with her mother, this isn't necessarily the case.
Quote #6
In my head I'm thinking how long till lunchtime, how long till I can take the red sweater and throw it over the schoolyard fence, or leave it hanging on a parking meter, or bunch it up into a little ball and toss it in the alley. (14)
Wouldn't it be nice if you could just bundle your sadness up, toss it over a fence, and hear "I Can See Clearly Now" playing in the background? Rachel thinks so too, and her wish to throw the sweater away shows us this. It might be a childish wish, but that also makes it a relatable one.