How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Perhaps you could give us fifty cents for this? Look, it's pure leather; almost brand new," he said, handing it to Papá.
Shaking his head, Papá replied sympathetically, "I am sorry. I wish I could, but we're broke too."
When I heard Papá say "we're broke too," I panicked. My hope for getting a ball of my own that Christmas faded—but only for a second. "It can't be like last year," I told myself.
My thoughts were interrupted by the man's desperate insistence. "Please, how about twenty-five cents?" (6.3-6)
A young couple shows up at Francisco's cabin in need of some help. They don't have any money and the lady is pregnant, so they're hoping to sell some of their only possessions. They're seriously desperate—an all the talk about being "broke" makes Francisco feel super desperate too.
Quote #5
We unloaded the Carcachita, placed some cardboard on the dirt floor, and laid our wide mattress on it. All of us—Papá, Mamá, Roberto, Trampita, Torito, and Rubén, my baby brother—slept on the mattress to keep warm, especially during chilly nights when the freezing wind pierced the canvas walls of our new home.
As Christmas drew closer, the more anxious and excited I became. When December 24 finally arrived, time seemed to stand still. One more day to wait, I thought.
[…] We huddled together and covered ourselves with army blankets we had bought at a secondhand store. I could not sleep thinking about Christmas. Once in a while, Papá's words "but we are broke too" entered my mind, but I pushed them out with fantasies of playing with my very own ball. (6.13-15)
When Francisco and his family set up their new temporary home in a tent just before Christmas, we can tell that money is tight—but Francisco remains optimistic about Christmas gifts anyway. Do you think he's in denial of his family's poverty? Or do you think his optimism works as a pretty cool sign of hope? How else might Francisco's optimism function here?
Quote #6
The shadows cast by the dim light made the circles under her eyes look even darker. As she began to wrap the gifts, silent tears ran down her cheeks. I did not know why.
At dawn, my brothers and I scrambled to get the presents that had been placed next to our shoes. I picked mine up and nervously tore at the butcher-paper wrapping: a bag of candy. Roberto, Trampita, and Torito looked sadly at me and at each other. They, too, had received a bag of candy. Searching for words to tell Mamá how I felt, I looked up at her. Her eyes were full of tears. (6.17-18)
When there's not much money to go around, a holiday like Christmas can be super tough. Remember how excited Francisco was about getting a new ball? That hope deflates pretty quickly when he opens his bag of candy. And he's not the only one who's sad—just take a look at how Robert, Trampita, Torito, and Mamá feel about the whole hullabaloo. We're thinking that this holiday might not be the best one yet.