How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The book she had been reading was under her pillow, pressing its cover against her ear as if to lure her back into its printed pages. (1.2)
Meggie sleeps with a book under her pillow most nights, which is a little strange and uncomfortable-sounding. But her father, Mo, understands her habit and asks whether she also hears the book whispering its story to her. Is this a metaphor? Is it real? Can books actually whisper? Either way, it's a good clue that we've landed in a family of bookworms.
Quote #2
Mo had helped her with the binding, of course. He had bound all her homemade books in brightly patterned paper, and he had given her a stamp for the others so that she could print her name and the head of a unicorn on the title page, sometimes in black ink and sometimes in red, depending on how she felt. But Mo had never read aloud to her from her books. Not once. (2.24)
In this passage we learn that Mo is a bookbinder, and a good one at that (he has access to colored and patterned paper, and he has a stamp with different color inks that he's taught Meggie to use). After all, you have to be pretty decent at a skill in order to teach it to someone. But for all his love of books, he never reads out loud to Meggie. Never. This is a pretty big clue that something's off in Meggie and Mo's world.
Quote #3
"What on earth have you packed in here? Bricks?" asked Mo as he carried Meggie's book box out of the house.
"You're the one who says books have to be heavy because the whole world's inside them," said Meggie, making him laugh for the first time that morning. (2.38-39)
Mo has taught Meggie well: she values books enough to bring them along with her on trips, and she also knows that they're packed with knowledge. Surely there are some awesome books out there that aren't heavy, but in general we like the idea that books get a free pass for weight because they contain so much of the world (seriously, try to help a bookworm friend move—you'll quickly realize how just how heavy boxes of books can be).