How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Now Mary Alice was yanking on my shirttail. We knew kids lie all the time, but Grandma was no kid, and she could tell some whoppers. Of course the reporter had been lied to big-time up at the cafe, but Grandma's lies were more interesting, even historical. They made Shotgun look better while they left Effie Wilcox in the dust. (1.46)
One of the most surprising things that the kids quickly learn about Grandma is that she's not like other adults they know, who believe that you can't lie under any circumstance. Instead, she openly tells big old whoppers right in front of them.
Quote #2
Grandma was telling one of her whoppers. If she'd found a mouse in the milk, she'd have exploded like the mailbox. She was telling a whopper, and I wondered why. (2.38)
Joey and Mary Alice can see through all of Grandma Dowdel's lies…but they don't call her out on them in the moment. They want to wait and see what Grandma is up to and why she put a mouse in the milk in the first place.
Quote #3
Another whopper, and a huge one. Grandma off on a jaunt and us with her? I didn't think so. She didn't do things that cost. And she never told anybody her business. (2.42)
There's no way that Grandma would be taking the kids off to visit a distant relative that they've never even heard of. She's obviously up to something, and she's setting up a trap for the boys, who will inevitably break into her house when they think she's gone.