chapter 9

"And if i say something good, then it is like watching my own garden grow, and it is the greatest pleasure ever. That's what Aisha and I are doing. We're planting a garden with our words. Our future. Everything careful and chosen well so the shoots come up strong and straight."

I know a lot of people chose this quote, and like they all said, I can picture this garden of words. Not only does this conjure up an image of a garden of words, it also makes me think of Aisha and Nadira's relationship. At first it was a patch of dirt, but it is starting to sprout, and flower. I think that this is passage is supposed to conjure many ideas for the reader.

Chapt 7-8

"'You can't do that!' I yell. 'You can't just run off. Or tell Mr. Rashid the first thing that comes into your head!' Then I notice that Aisha is trembling. Her backpack slides off her arm, and she slouches to the ground, right next to the Zaro's Bread barrel full of Snapple bottle banked in ice. Her eyes are glassy, far-off. I crouch down next to her. 'Aisha, Whats wrong?'
"I'm scared," she whispers. 'I'm scared for Abba.'"-chpt 8,pg-66

I loved this quote, for many reasons. Finally Aisha is admitting that under all of her perfectness she is actually scared for what might happen to Abba. Also starting in chapter 7 the two started to work together, with out fighting,which I liked. They have realized that they have to stick together, because they are all they have.Also Nadira's compassion towards Aisha when she crumples in front of the barrel made me think. I think that this is a turning point in the book, and now I'm a little more interested.

Chapter 5

"I press my hands to my ears and try to concentrate on my geometry homework. The figures jerk like dangling sticks on the page. I wish I could be like Aisha and just focus. Or Taslima, talking back. But that's not me. I like staying quiet and still, taking in the words of the grown-ups."-pg 40-41

I thought that the part where she says, "I wish I could be like Aisha and just focus. Or Taslima, talking back." was interesting because all this time, Nadira has been hinting, at the fact that she is jealous of Aisha, but she never outwardly says it. Now she's saying that she's jealous of Aisha and Taslima. I think that maybe she is finally admitting to herself that she is actually jealous of her sister.Tell me what you think.

Chapter 5

"We're not the only illegals at our school. We're everywhere.You just have to look. A lot of the kids here were born elsewhere-Korea,China, India, the Dominican Republic. You can't tell which ones aren't legal. We try to get lost in the landscape of backpacks and book reports. To find us you have to pick up the signals.It might be in class when a teacher asks a personal question, and a kid gets a funny ,pinches look in his eyes. Or some girl doesn't want to give her address to the counselor. We all agree not to notice."-29

I thought that it was really interesting how Nadira refers to all of the illegals as "We." It's as if they are a little club. They know the signals, and they can figure out who is illegal and who isn't.What puzzles me though is that she says that she doesn't know who is illegal and who is legal, but obviously she does. She says how they can pick up the signals and all, but then before that Nadira says that she doesn't know who is illegal and who isn't. What do you think?

Talliya's Quote

I think that Talliya's quote was very interesting, and it stood out for me too. It seems to me, that this family hides a lot from each other, from their friends, and from the government. They live their lives in secret, and because of that they probably don't get to be good friends with people. They don't want to get too comfortable with their friends, thinking that if they got too close, they would start to confide in each other, and the friend would adventually pry it out of them. I also agree, that it would be extremely hard in some ways, but for them their life depends on the fact that no one knows about who they actually are, so in that respect its actually not that hard.

Not so Easy is it?

"I know things about my family that no one else does. Like about Aisha. I know how hard she works at who she is. Everyone sees her in class, smoothly flipping her hair back from her shoulders before she answers a question. Or sitting on a stage with her answers with her hands folded in her lap,chin tipped up, feet tucked beneath her, calmly leasing the debate team. Like nothing could shake her up. I know better."
I like this quote, because it shows that Aisha isn't actually "perfect." She has to work towards who she is, and that she has her weak spots like everyone else. I think that this is a self esteem booster for Nadira because she needs to know that she has a chance.

Quote

"She's the quick one, the firstborn son, while I'm the slow-wit second-born who just follows along."
I chose this quote, because it really expresses how Nadira feels about her sister and family. She has this sense of ambiguity, like she admires her sister for her smarts, and looks, but she resents her because Aisha gets all of the attention from her parents.