How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
That summer my brother, Bernardo, or "Nardo," as we call him, flipped through more jobs than a thumb through a deck of cards. (1.1)
Right off the bat, we know this book is going to deal with some interesting family relations. Manny may be telling us his story, but from the very first line he's focused on his big brother, Nardo. In fact, we don't even learn Manny's name until the middle of a story about Nardo's favorite job. With all this focus on his brother, we're set up for a story where family is seriously central.
Quote #2
Mom just kept watching TV. I guess she figured she could scold him for starving us, scold him about the unpaid rent or the job somewhere in the world waiting for him to try harder, but she was tired of all that. She knew if she cluttered his ears with too much griping, it would only thicken his stubbornness. (2.58)
Get ready for the understatement of the year: Manny's parents don't always get along. So keep an eye out during the rest of the book for how Mom and Dad's fights go down, and whether they're ever able to resolve them. But even with all this fighting, it is also super clear that Mom knows Dad super well, and that means that while she can fight with the best of them, she also knows how to keep her hubby at bay by laying off the fights for a little while.
Quote #3
From the corner of his eye, he caught the dark clump of Mom running, and ran after her. When she disappeared behind a tree, he froze, shifting his knees, the barrel of the rifle alert and ready. For an instant I caught a glimpse of her tiptoeing away from a tree. Dad saw her too and banged on the bolt arm. She started with a jolt and began running again, ducking and dodging from tree to tree as Dad, frustrated with the loader because it wouldn't eat the bullet, and not wanting her to escape, pretended to lock a bullet in the chamber and level aim. (4.43)
Okay, this just might be about the worst scene you want to witness between your parents. Ever. And based on this, there's not much love lost between Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez. When Dad tries to shoot Mom, you could say things have gone from bad to worse, and it looks like Dad isn't holding anything back—even when his bullets won't load, he still keeps pressing forward, trying to at least scare his wife. Yikes.