How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
She sounded twice as good as she thought she did, half as good as she thought she should. With her ears plugged her voice was a hollow echo trapped in her head. Stick your fingers in your ears and talk, you'll get the idea. (1.19)
Notice the word trapped used here to show us what Mik's hearing impairment is like for her. We'd also like to point out how much the author tries to make us understand what Mik goes through so we get her perspective more. It's not about hearing or not hearing, specifically, it's more about the confinement that she feels as a result of it.
Quote #2
At sixteen she was headed where all told her not to go: New York. She had to visit the Statue of Liberty. "A silly tourist trap," one of her sister travelers said. Fatima smiled. Trap or not, she was going to see Liberty up close. (2.6)
Fatima loves the idea of the Statue of Liberty—even though everyone warns her against it—because it symbolizes the freedom and opportunity she gets in America that she didn't have before. For more on this, check out the "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" section.
Quote #3
"Please tell me how to get to the Statue of Liberty."
"Serious?" She called to the other waitress, "Carmen, how you get to the Statcha Lib'dy?"
"Never been. I think you got to take a boat." (7.4-6)
When Fatima asks a waitress how to get to the Statue of Liberty, no one knows the way. It's not surprising, then, that no one she talks to has been to the Statue of Liberty. Everyone is trapped in one way or another by their world, unable to find their own freedom in life.