How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Dad makes all the decisions, but he can't make this one. Finally, Mom's hand comes to rest on top of Dad's. She takes the card. In the set of her shoulders there's a grim determination I've never seen before. "It's okay," she says. "I'll do it." (37.15)
Cameron's not the only one who changes throughout our story. When his dad becomes immobilized by grief, Cam's mom steps up to take charge. Sometimes it takes extenuating circumstances to discover what you're really capable of.
Quote #8
The thing is, I can't stop obsessing over what Dulcie told me about Keith stepping on that land mine. Why do I care? He's a jerk. A week ago, I would have said, hey, natural selection, man. Stupid people, out of the gene pool. But now I know that in addition to being a boneheaded jerk, Keith also has a mom and a dad and two younger sisters he takes out for ice cream whenever he gets home. I know he sings goofy, off-key songs and has a habit of kissing the top of your head when he's really drunk. (38.4)
Cam is finally getting to know people, and it is changing his entire perspective. It's amazing how transformative other people can be on a person if you just let them in enough to care.
Quote #9
We're colliding, making our own universe, something new and unnamed and full of every possibility. It's so intense, this happiness—there is no escape velocity from this kind of feeling. And for once, I'm not looking for a way out. (43.113)
In the beginning of the book Cameron will do just about anything to seek out a state of numbness—kid avoids everything. So to have him embrace a feeling, even if it's a relatively easy one like happiness, is a major shift in his ability to cope with emotions.