How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I was thirteen at last, so I'd thank you to call me Joe, not Joey, and I walked a few strides ahead of Mary Alice.
For one thing, she'd been taking dancing lessons all year and never went anywhere without her tap shoes in a drawstring bag. (5.3-4)
Once Joey turns 13, he considers himself way too cool for Mary Alice. He walks far ahead of her as they make their way into town, pretending that he doesn't even know that kid.
Quote #5
"Well it's not skin off my nose," she said calmly, "but seems like your boy's old enough to make up his own mind. How old is he?"
"Thirty," Mrs. Stubbs said, "but he's a young thirty." (5.145-146)
Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs really need to learn when to let their kid grow up and leave the nest. It's obvious that Junior Stubbs is totally old enough to make his own choices…and to start his own family with Vandalia.
Quote #6
"What do you want to learn to drive for anyway?" she said. "Don't you go around Chicago in taxicabs and trolleys?"
I couldn't explain it to Grandma. I was getting too old to be a boy, and driving meant you were a man. Something like that. (6.46-47)
Grandma Dowdel just doesn't understand that learning to drive isn't a practical choice for Joey—it's a rite of passage. By learning to drive, he feels that he'll be more of a man than a boy.