How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Carter, believe me, I've tried to remember. It's no use. Iskandar is the only family I've ever had." (17.49)
Zia is probably not the only orphaned magician out there—it's a hard lifestyle, after all—but our hearts go out to her nonetheless. What must it be like to know that you lost your family to magic, and not be able to remember anything about them? Also, Zia's relationship with Iskandar shows that family can sometimes be something that isn't based on blood ties; it can also be based on other kinds of relationships.
Quote #8
"Champollion died before he could join the House of Life, but the Chief Lector accepted his descendants for training. Desjardins is very proud of his family… but a little sensitive too, because he's such a newcomer." (18.197)
Apparently being from a newer family when everyone else in the game has a lineage that goes back millennia is enough to make you kind of cranky about the whole thing. Welcome to a world where having the right family connections directly grants you access to power—magical power. Is that different from the way families work in the mortal world?
Quote #9
But more than that, in Carter's wary expression I saw the way he used to look at me on our visiting days—when we were practically strangers, forced to spend time together, pretending we were a happy family because Dad expected it of us. I didn't want to go back to that. I wasn't pretending anymore. We were a family, and we had to work together. (40.52)
By this point in the book—the battle of the red pyramid—Sadie realizes how much progress her family has made just in banding together, even if they're not perfect. More importantly, she realizes that she doesn't want to go back to the way things were, even if it was easier being on her own.