How we cite our quotes: (Section.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
She reached greedily for the pearl. […]
"If you can stay up all night with me, it's yours," said Billy.
"Why?" asked Sal.
Billy explained the importance of his idea. He finished by reminding her, "We've never even made it to midnight on New Year's Eve." (3.4.8, 12-14)
Billy and Sal agree on one thing: Time is important. And when it comes to staying up until midnight, that's a milestone these siblings haven't hit yet. So Billy convinces his little sis that it's time for them to take matters into their own hands and pull an all-nighter. Sure, Sal needs some extra motivation with the pearl, but we can tell that Billy thinks staying up late is actually a really big deal.
Quote #8
The month of May had been so hot and dry, Billy wondered if the whole town would shrivel up. The blistering day he came home from school with his problem Sal was sitting in the shade on the front porch holding a bag of frozen blueberries against her skin to keep cool. Billy could tell that she'd also been eating the blueberries because her fingers and face were stained purple. (4.1.1)
All of a sudden that feathery snow we learned about earlier in the book is sounding pretty wonderful… but Sal and Billy are stuck finding creative ways to stay cool now that it's May. And for Sal that means eating frozen blueberries. The cool thing is that while this book tracks the passage of time, we also get to learn extra tidbits about our characters. And based on Sal's blueberry-stained skin, we know that she would rather stay cool in this heat than be a neat freak about her frozen fruit party.
Quote #9
"Okay," said Billy. His eyes shifted down to his volcano drawings. He wasn't fond of homework in general, but it seemed even worse now that it was so close to the end of the school year. His mind was already focusing on summer vacation. (4.2.33)
Timing is everything when it comes to homework, and according to Billy, summertime is just about the worst time in the history of time for homework to happen. So when Ms. Silver assigns him some poetry homework when summer is just a short while away, he's not in the right mindset at all. How else do you think the time of year impacts Billy's attitude toward school?