How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Let me! Let me!" I begged between games when one brother or the other would sit back with a deep sigh of relief and victory, the other annoyed, unable to let go of the outcome. (18)
Waverly's love of chess starts out as a family thing: She's interested in what her brothers are doing and she wants in. And of course, once her mom realizes she's good at it, chess only becomes more of a family affair.
Quote #5
She sat proudly on the bench, telling my admirers with proper Chinese humility, "Is luck." (34)
Waverly might call it "Chinese humility," but what's happening is that her mom is putting down her skills. And Waverly's mom does this a lot, disguising passive aggressive put-downs as humility.
Quote #6
My mother placed my first trophy next to a new plastic chess set that the neighborhood Tao society had given to me. As she wiped each piece with a soft cloth, she said, "Next time win more, lose less." (41)
Mom actually takes pride in what her daughter's doing, but at the same time she can't resist stinging her kid, too. Here Waverly's winning, but she's not winning enough. This relentlessness from her mom—her inability to let her daughter enjoy her accomplishments—eventually undoes their relationship.