How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I don't trust anyone," Dicey said. "It's what you said, kids have no rights. So we have to be extra careful."
"Why don't kids have any rights?" James asked.
"Because parents own them," Louis answered quickly. "Your parents can beat you, steal your money, decide not to take you to a doctor—anything they want."
"There's a law I have to go to school," James said. "That's a right, isn't it?"
"If you look at it that way."
"They couldn't kill me," James continued. "That would be murder."
"If it could be proved." (1.5.90-100)
Louis doesn't have much love for parents, does he? James is rightly suspicious of his claims—parents can't do anything to children, can they? Well, their mother did abandon them, so maybe anything can happen to kids.
Quote #2
Never mind even the way forward, you couldn't get food without money and they had none.
Kids just couldn't earn money.
She had, yesterday. She had earned seventy-five cents in all. They could eat something today, if they had seventy-five cents now. (1.6.120-122)
Dicey is operating in a world that just isn't set up for kids. She can't get a real job, but she can do odd jobs to earn a little extra money—as long as she's careful.
Quote #3
"Don't be sorry—I feel so sorry for you—I don't understand what has happened—"
"Neither do we," Dicey answered.
"How could you? You're only children." (1.9.98-100)
After all these kids have been through, Cousin Eunice is pretty content to just write them off. They're only children, after all, so how can they possibly understand this crazy world? Hey, lady, they were just walking around this crazy world by themselves for days, so maybe you should give them the benefit of the doubt.