How we cite our quotes: (Section.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
In the letter Ms. Silver greeted the students and said she was looking forward to the new school year. [...] She said that second grade would be "a safe, happy year of growth" and "a wonderful, joyful, exciting challenge."
Billy stopped chewing when he heard the word challenge. He put down his fork and touched the lump on his head. He didn't want a challenge. (1.1.21-22)
Right off the bat, we learn that Billy is a bit scared of the road ahead. Yep, he's nervous about the "challenge" of second grade. That word challenge can have positive connotations (a.k.a. a cookie-eating challenge) and some pretty scary meanings, too (a.k.a. a challenging math test). Since Ms. S says this will be a "joyful" challenge, we're thinking she's going with the more positive side of things. But it looks like Billy is a glass-half-empty kind of guy when it comes to thinking about his ability to persevere through the challenges ahead.
Quote #2
The rabbit will be perfect, he thought, recalling that Ms. Silver had noted in her letter that this was the Year of the Rabbit. He picked it up, turned the little thing in his hand. It was only an inch and a half high. Billy shoved the rabbit into his pocket with his other silver things.
His plan was to leave the silver items on Ms. Silver's desk. The gifts would be a way to show her that he was a nice person. He didn't think he could find the words to explain to her what he'd been doing with the red markers. He hoped this gesture would take care of the situation. (1.5.2-3)
Billy is in a pickle: He's had a rough first day at school and is worried that he accidentally insulted his teacher. Yikes, that doesn't sound fun. So now he's got to work hard to find a way to make things right and persevere through some possible awkwardness with Ms. S. We can't help noticing that Billy also wants to avoid talking to Ms. Silver. What do you make of this? Is Billy trying to skate by with his silver doodads? Or is he making a serious effort?
Quote #3
At first, Papa seemed jolly and had good suggestions to offer. He showed Billy how to replicate a cave by crumpling up a piece of gray construction paper, then smoothing it out and gluing it to the inside of the box. Because the paper was crisscrossed with folds and wrinkles, it really gave the shoe box the appearance of worn, silvery rock.
Billy worked diligently. He had a vision in his head of how his diorama should turn out. He wanted to make three or four bats hanging from the top of the cave, and he wanted to make one big bat with its wings spread to look as if it were flying. (2.2.2-3)
Billy is hard at work on his diorama, and he's got Papa as his partner-in-crime. We know that Billy's working hard here because, well, the narrator tells us so. But we also get some clues about exactly what is making this hard work so successful. And it looks like Billy's got some help from Papa and some creative imagination to get his diorama building off to a good start.