How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
She was at school, but you'd never know it if you didn't actually look. She didn't whip her hand through the air trying to get the teacher to call on her or charge through the halls getting to class. She didn't make unsolicited comments for the teacher's edification or challenge the kid who took cuts in the milk line. She just sat. Quiet.
I told myself I should be glad about it—it was like she wasn't even there, and isn't that what I'd always wanted? But still, I felt bad. (3.76-77)
After the sycamore tree is gone, Bryce notices some definite changes in Juli. She's gone from a boisterous girl who Bryce found annoying to a quiet girl who almost fades into the background. What do you think about Bryce's comment that "it was like she wasn't even there"? That's a pretty huge change from the energetic girl that Bryce found annoying. Is this a good change or a bad one? And why do you think it makes Bryce feel so guilty?
Quote #5
I hung the painting across the room from my bed. It's the first thing I see every morning and the last thing I see every night. And now that I can look at it without crying, I see more than the tree and what being up in its branches meant to me.
I see the day that my view of things around me stated changing. (4.101-102)
That sycamore tree definitely changes Juli's perspective. When she was up in the tree, she saw the world in a whole new way, and this means that the picture her dad paints of the tree is super powerful. Take a look at how she says it reminds her of the day her "view" changed. We're thinking she means this literally, like she saw things from a new height up in that tree. But it sounds like there's some extra meaning here too. How else do you think Juli's "view" is transformed with the help of the sycamore tree?
Quote #6
He pulled my curtain aside and looked across the street. "One's character is set at any early age, son. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life." He was quiet for a minute, then dropped the curtain and said, "I hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back." (7.30)
Granddad Chet has some advice for Bryce: start making good decisions. Like right now. Actually—make that yesterday. Granddad is worried that sometimes it can be tough to change, so he doesn't want Bryce to make bad decisions when he's young and then be stuck with those choices forever. It sounds to us like Granddad is worried that maybe transformations can be tough.