Quote: Chapter 18 (page 159)

'Then Abba looks at us all. "Ready to go home?" Together we shit our eyes, dip our heads, and start to leave the room. I can feel it, the water pressing all around us, pulsing form below. Abba's fingers reach for mine. And we do as he taught us. We hold our breaths, then let them out, bit by bit. We push forward, into the unknown. Go." I think that this was a cool illustration of what their family believes water is and how they use it. I also think that this was a neat way to tie in one of the main ideas from the book, water, and use it in the end which makes the book that much stronger. They didn't talk about it but I think that Abba said home in a different way now that they have one and they don't have to hide anymore. I think that Abba said it like something had been lifted from his shoulders. He felt released, like he could swim off with his family and they could do what they want now.

Quote: Chapter 16 (page 138)

"He pats me on the head and doesn't let me go into the kitchen with the women, but makes sure I sit right next to him. I'm embarrassed, but I like this, being the special one." I don't think that Nadira realized what Aisha felt like. At times she might have felt embarrassed, pressured, and then she liked being the special one. I think that Nadira wasn't used to being cared about like this. If she is going to help her family like this then she should get used to feeling this way. I think that when she was usually standing around, she wasn't held there by her father, Aisha was. Aisha had made some bad decisions and she sort of got pushed away. Her parents gave up on her and reached for Nadira to hold onto. I think that Nadira will get used to it but I hope that she won't get stuck on being the perfect child like what happened to Aisha. I think that Nadira should grasp onto her parents and her personality, so that she doesn't loose track of either of them as their family goes through their problems. She is going to find, like Aisha did, that it is hard to keep this position. People expect a lot from you and you have to, most of the time, fall into those expectations. It seems like a lot of pressure that I certainly wouldn't want to fall on top of my shoulders.

Quote: Chapter 15 (page 132)

"I want to say that sometimes you can't know who a person is. Sometimes they don't know who they are either. They can appear to be one thing---like me, fat and slow and lazy---but you can look at them another way too---and see something else." I think that Nadira is finally self-confident and she understands that she can be seen as fat and lazy or she can be seen as someone who is the complete opposite. Same with everyone else. She wanted to prove that everyone is not what you say they are until you understand what you are saying first. And with yourself, you have to be careful not to listen to rumors that float around and dismiss who you truly are. Nadira had originally been lost with what other people though of her and not what she thought of herself. At this point she had cleared everything after seeing everyone changed on the inside and out. She had finally gotten into a habit of seeing things one way which was how everyone else saw it; and then she learned to see things a different way which was how she saw it.

Quote: Chapter 13 (page 116)

"That's what I think of now as I get off the bus and walk by the store where Ali-Uncle works. Breathe. Get through this. Find your way to the other side." I think that it is sweet how she thinks of Abba even at a time when he is in jail. I think that it was at neat representation of what her father taught her. Instead of using it to swim, I like that she used it for calming down. She used it for deep-breathing and at a time like this that was useful.

Quote: Chapter 12 (page 113)

"This is the first time I've ever done this, but I put my arms around my sister. She feels as if she's all bones, and she's shaking. I don't know what to say. So we sit like that for a long, long time." I think that she was trying to be helpful but, at times like this, she doesn't know what to do. They are waiting for their parents to come back because, at times we want to be the parent (boss kids around and stay up late) but what we don't realize are the things that we don't know until they are gone. For instance, when they are in these kinds of situations, they want comfort that usually comes from the parents. While they don't have their parents, they learned to comfort each other but sometimes I find (with my sister) that it's hard to find what to say that is as comforting, if not more, that what our parents would say.

Quote: Chapter 11 (page 101)

"It's weird. Now it's me who feels older than Aisha and is worried about her. Now that I've helped Lily, it's like I want to protect everyone: Auntie from Uncle and the bad news about his possible deportation, Uncle from himself, and Aisha from taking everything so hard." I liked this quote in particular because I felt that Nadira was finally getting the chance to be in control and then that led to her judging herself. However, this time, she wasn't judging against someone like Aisha, she was just judging herself. I think that this was a time for her to reflect on herself and see what she has done in her life that was good and what she wanted never to do again.

Quote: Chapter 10 (page 82)

"The way he says the word home has a certain tinge; it's the way he would say it in Bangla, that means this place that is my family's, that only invited guests may enter." I thought this was an interesting quote. They try so hard to fit in and when they state it like that, it makes you wonder what they mean. I think that when she says that it has a certain 'twinge' then that means it doesn't feel quite right. Even though they have their house and they live peacefully in it, they still don't exist here. This isn't their property to call their own truly. It's like staying at another house or place for a while. You can call it your own for privacy reasons like 'get out of my room' or 'I'm going to my room' but it is never really yours.