How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Besides, Mom wanted to keep it hush about me attending a school across town. She thought schooling could graduate me into places that would make her eyes gleam. Dad thought I should cut school altogether and get a dishwashing job. (3.3)
While Manny's dreams about school focus on the baseball team, Mom figures school will be a huge stepping stone for her son. It's like school is this ginormous trampoline, and if Manny can just get on it, then he can jump higher than he ever thought possible. But then there's Dad, Mr. Anti-School. Whose attitude do you think impacts Manny more?
Quote #5
I was watching this when my old history teacher, Mr. Hart, came up and stood beside me. I remembered him because his favorite subject was the Civil War. He was wild about General McClellan, who he swore was a military genius and only needed a chance to put his sophisticated designs of warfare to work. […] Once, I remember during class, after he'd gotten all teary-eyed about the battle of Gettysburg, this smart-aleck guy named Malcolm Augustus leaked out this cheesy little snicker and the whole class bursted out laughing. Mr. Hart's face pumped red with embarrassment. (3.5)
School might not always be a piece of cake for students, but it sounds like it can be rough on the teachers, too. Truth be told, Mr. Hart is a pretty good guy. Sure, he gets a little worked up over a dead general and all, but when his class laughs at him, it's a little rough—after all, he's just trying to get these kids revved up about the Civil War. Is that really so bad? You probably know how we'd answer that question…
Quote #6
When summer ended, I was again at the same school. Mom's plans to get me transferred didn't work out. The administration said it was too late. There were already too many kids in that school. There was an imbalance in the student body—whatever that meant. They said lots of things, but it all ended with me not transferring. (7.1)
All those high hopes of a new school come to diddlysquat for our head honcho. What do you make of the " imbalance in the student body" the fancy school tells Manny's family about? Since we already know there's a racial divide between the two schools, we're thinking this is a euphemism. It sounds to us like race and education get mixed-up an awful lot in this tale.