How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
There were foggy days of unknowing for Bailey and me. It was all well and good to say we would be with our parents, but after all, who were they? Would they be more severe with our didoes than she? That would be bad. Or more lax? Which would be even worse. (26.10)
Which is worse, the devil you don't know or the devil you do? Maya is headed back to be with her parents, which should be comforting, but she has no idea what to expect.
Quote #5
The air of collective displacement, the impermanence of life in wartime and the gauche personalities of the more recent arrivals tended to dissipate my own sense of not belonging. In San Francisco, for the first time, I perceived myself as part of something. (27.8)
Ah, San Francisco—the land where not belonging makes you feel like you belong. This city feels like home to Maya because it, like her, is constantly changing. It's like the opposite of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, where the only thing that changes is his sweaters.
Quote #6
To me, a thirteen-year-old Black girl, stalled by the South and Southern Black life style, the city was a state of beauty and a state of freedom. (27.10)
She's finally free! Free to do what, we're not sure… but free! What is this freedom, anyway? Is it the ability to do something different from your grandparents? The chance to fight back against the system and become the first black conductorette? Or just a sense of independence?