How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Sure, I've always been into the Big Bang theory of passion, but as something theoretical, something that happens in books that you can close and put back on the shelf, something I might secretly want bad but can never happen to me. Something that happens to heroines like Bailey, to the commotion girls in the leading roles. (9.17)
The way Lennie is passionately drawn to Toby is totally foreign to her. It also shows how she used to think of herself as not a "leading role," i.e. someone who doesn't take charge of her own life.
Quote #2
Why would he think this? Bailey is amazing and Gram and Big, and of course Mom, but not me, I am the two-dimensional one in a 3-D family. (12.57)
C'mon, Lennie. Give yourself a little more credit. Seems like Lennie's pretty low in the self-esteem department. She's a virtuoso clarinet player who makes awesome lasagnas and can walk while reading (not easy—we've tried it), yet she thinks she's not amazing. Maybe she thinks this because the rest of her family is outgoing in their quirkiness (Bailey was an actress, after all) and Lennie keeps to herself a little more.
Quote #3
"Can I?" he says, reaching for the rubber band on my ponytail.
I nod. Very slowly, he slides it off, the whole time holding my eyes in his. I'm hypnotized. It's like he's unbuttoning my shirt. When he's done, I shake my head a little and my hair springs into its habitual frenzy. (12.64-65)
Cue the slow music. Seriously, though, Lennie lets her guard down around Joe in so many ways. Him removing her ponytail feels like a sign of all that bigger stuff, and that he sees Lennie as different from how she sees herself.