How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
We liked eating lunch there, because every day around twelve o'clock one of the English teachers, Miss Van der Meer, would step out of her classroom and swoon our minds with the gorgeous way she'd fluff her hair and fix the collar of her ruffly blouse. Her legs dangled from the hems of her skirt like two shapely white bowling pins, and her shoulders were straight as a geography book.
We acted like that wasn't why we ate lunch there, but it was. (7.2-3)
Gosh, here we've been thinking that school is all about classic books and algebra, but boy were we wrong. When it comes to Manny and his buddies it's all about Miss Van der Meer. They think she's the cat's pajamas and that's that, and this story of his lunchtime ogling sessions sure tells us a lot about Manny's educational priorities.
Quote #8
"We are a coupla idiots, you idiot," I said, defiantly, but I could see regret tightening on Albert's face. He was convinced that we'd never get another chance to moon over Miss Van der Meer on the sly. But to me, Lencho was right. It was stupid sitting out there stuffed in a mountain of double sweaters, waiting for some teacher to make a grand appearance. She paid us less mind than she would a wad of chewing gum stuck on the sidewalk. That much I could tell by the way she waved at me. (7.27)
When Manny calls out to Miss V and she barely waves back at him, he starts feeling down in the dumps. It's never fun to feel kind of ignored. But when it's a teacher at your own school who's not paying you any mind, well, that's a whole other story. What do you think this says about Miss V as a teacher? Do you think she's treating the students at her school in the best way she can?
Quote #9
I think every student at J. Edgar Hoover High knew the coach was a Golden Gloves boxing champion. Even in junior high I remember knowing, and I think even my dad knew, and my dad didn't give a rat's ass about anything that happened in my school. (7.46)
Coach Rogers is the basketball and boxing coach and he has a reputation as being a champ. Between this and the dreams of being a baseball star, we think we've found the ticket to Manny getting excited about school: sports. But even being a boxing champ doesn't get Dad revved up about education. We can't say we're super surprised since Manny's already told us that his dad thinks he should drop out. But we're also hoping he'll change his tune. Stat.