How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
When my mother's gone, my dad says, "So, son, why don't you ask Juli?"
"Dad!"
"It's just a little question, Bryce. No harm, no foul."
"But it'll get me a half-hour answer!"
He studies me for a minute, then says, "No boy should be this afraid of a girl."
"I'm not afraid of her…!"
"I think you are." (5.68-74)
Bryce is so nervous to chat with Juli about her eggs. What do you think he is afraid of? Is he afraid because Juli is a girl, like his dad thinks? Or is he worried about being embarrassed? Is something else afoot here?
Quote #5
"Patsy, that's not the point. The point is, I will not have a coward for a son!"
"But teaching him to lie?"
"Fine. Then just throw them away. But from now on I expect you to look that little tiger square in the eye, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, then."
I was off the hook for all of about eight days. Then there she was again, at seven in the morning, bouncing up and down on our porch with eggs in her hands. "Hi, Bryce! Here you go."
I tried to look her square in the eye and tell her, No thanks, but she was so darned happy, and I wasn't really awake enough to tackle the tiger. She wound up pushing another carton into my hands, and I wound up ditching them in the kitchen trash before my father sat down to breakfast.
This went on for two years. (5.180-187)
Bryce's fear of talking to Juli just won't go away—according to Bryce's dad, this makes him a "coward." And Mr. Loski has a pretty different word for Juli: "tiger." Bryce uses the same word to describe Juli, too. So what do you think of these descriptions? Do you agree with Bryce's dad that his son is a coward and Juli is a tiger?
Quote #6
I was happy to finally be planting the yard, but I couldn't help being distracted by Bryce's window. Was he watching? During the rest of the afternoon, I checked more often than I'd like to admit. And I'm afraid Chet noticed, too, because when we were all done and we'd congratulated each other on what was sure to be a fine-looking yard, he said, "He may be acting like a coward now, but I do hold out hope f or the boy."
A coward? What on earth could I say to that? I just stood there with the hose in one hand and the spigot valve beneath the other. […]
I few minutes later I saw Bryce coming down the sidewalk toward his house. (8.137-138, 140)
Bryce hasn't apologized to Juli yet about the eggs incident, and he hasn't said he's sorry about the messy yard comments either. Granddad Chet has some strong words to describe his grandson… including "coward." Yep—even though Chet and Mr. Loski are pretty different characters, they both think that Bryce is acting like a scaredy-cat. Now that we've got even more people calling our main man a coward, do you think he fits the bill? Or does he prove his courage when he finally apologizes?