How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
If I were a different kind of sister, a better kind, I would have hugged him and told him everything would be okay. Maybe if we were out of my parents' house, in our own place, we could be that kind of family. But here, we were the same old Lamberts we'd always been. (7.13)
Deanna withholds affection not just from her father, but from the rest of her family members in his presence. There's a whole lot of stifled emotion going down at the Lamberts' house… and not nearly enough hugs.
Quote #8
Sometimes I wonder, you know, what's wrong with some families […] I look at people like Lee […] and I know that's how a family should be, and I realize how f***ed up it is to not be talking to each other and to be blaming each other and not wanting to know anything about your own grandkid. (7.15)
Just as Deanna's dad doesn't want to know anything about her life, he doesn't want to know anything about April's. It's like if a person reminds him of something he doesn't want to think about, he just cuts them off.
Quote #9
The last three years could be a bad memory. I could say, Dad, let's just try, and he could look at April in his arms and nod quietly, and everything could be different, couldn't it? (7.45)
Deanna sympathizes with April, because her dad ignores April too—so when she sees her dad holding April, she imagines that maybe he wants to hold her too.