How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #1
Each letter of the alphabet has a rhyme about a little kid meeting some bizarre end. I like the poster because it is in black and white to everyone else, but inside my head, it's in color. (1.2)
Right away, Mia fills us in on her little secret: She sees colors. We're not talking just in a pack of crayons either. Everywhere she goes, Mia can see colors in music, letters, numbers, you name it. The way she tells it, her version of reality is very different from what everyone else around her sees.
Quote #2
My sight is filled with blurry purple triangles and waves of green and floating black dots and balls of all sizes and shades of colors, spinning, swooping, swirling in front of me and across the room and in my mind's eye. (1.48)
Without these descriptions, we'd have a tough time understanding what Mia goes through. Luckily, she gives us a bunch of them throughout the book. We can tell that the shapes excite her, but they also overwhelm her when they come at her all at once, like when someone sets off all of her alarms.
Quote #3
No matter how hard I try, I can never keep up in math class, and trying to learn Spanish will be even worse. The problem is clear to me. It has to do with my colors. The word friend is turquoise with a glow of glossy red, but the word amigo is yellow with spots of brown, like an old banana. I just can't get my brain to connect the two words. (1.67)
Just like Mia's synesthesia helps her paint or remember stuff really well, it also hurts her sometimes. She has an extra tough time in math. Why? The colors don't match up correctly when she's multiplying, and it drives her crazy. We might just see a four, but she sees shapes and colors zooming past her in the air.