How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When she died and all her brothers and sisters passed me from house to house, nobody ever wanting to take care of me for long, I still had that lesson in love deep inside me and I didn't grow mean or hateful when nobody cared enough to make me their own little girl. (1.4)
Summer hasn't had the easiest early childhood. After her parents die, she's pretty much left on her own—that is until Aunt May and Uncle Ob come along. Maybe that's why she's so desperate to hang onto them forever.
Quote #2
But now I am twelve, and expected to go it alone out to the stop [...]. It's worse needing somebody in the dark, in winter, of an early cold morning. (2.5)
Winter is coming, and it's not kind to Summer and Uncle Ob. On top of missing Aunt May something fierce, they also have to deal with the bitter cold and the fact that they don't know where to go from here without her.
Quote #3
"But it kept her in a pickle because she always feared losing her Ohio kin, too. Feared one of them would up and die, unexpected, like her mommy and daddy in the flash flood, if she let them out of her sight for too long. So every so often she'd have to leave this place and go check on them." (2.29)
Just like Summer, Aunt May is always afraid of losing those closest to her unexpectedly. Maybe that's why she understands Summer so well and wants to care for her like a parent would.