Annotations for Peaches by Jodi Lynnn Anderson

Peaches:


-Page 3. “Murphy was as a girl could be.” What does that mean?
-Page 11. “Sorry, Gavin said, then turned and sprinted leaving her behind.” Why did he leave her and not help her up?
-Page 15. “Every time Leeda’s sister, Danay, came home for the weekend, which was just about every other weekend, their mom spent most of her time gazing at her in awe.” Is she jealous?
-Page 18. “With her mother, Leeda acted a lot.” Her mother doesn’t understand her.
-Page 21. “At times like this, she wanted him more than ever.” She has someone to go to when she is hurt, that is good.
-Page 24. “You were my little bad lucky charm” This is something that she shouldn’t tell her daughter; it could hurt her.
-Page 27. “Horatio Balmeade was the Darlingtons’ only neighbor.” Does she have friends?
-Page 28. “They were so much family that Birdie couldn’t imagine life without them.” They are close to her.
-Page 31. “She fell backward into the grass. So much for luck.” She was nervous.
-Page 33. “Not if I die of boredom first” Murphy is not used to this type of stuff. She is more of a city girl I think.
-Page 37. “Birdie’s bottom lip quivered.” Birdie was just trying to help Murphy.
-Page 41. “Birdie didn’t chitchat.” Birdie doesn’t have a lot of friends so she gets nervous when she has to talk to someone her age.
-Page 49. “I’m in your bio class.” Murphy and Leeda are getting along.
-Page 53. “Birdie has always wanted Leeda to be her friends, and she still had no idea why.” I think it is because she doesn’t have a good social life so she is trying to ‘hang out’ with Leeda who she thinks is ‘cool’.
-Page 54. “Birdie, you’re just like your mother.” This was harsh on Birdie.
-Page 56. “Birdie why don’t you make friends like Leeda does?” Birdie is trying as hard as she can to make friends and her dad isn’t appreciating it.
-Page 57. “We could go to Smoaky Lake… how about we sit in the AC watching a movie?” Birdie is more of a nature girl and Leeda is more of an inside girl.
-Page 63. “The orchard was the world to them, that they’d never seen Taco Bell.” She’s noticing that she is not in a different world; she is in someone else’s world.
-Page 64. “Every few minutes someone made an effort to include her.” They are nice to her when she doesn’t even care about them.
-Page 71. “They both went tumbling down, laughing, sending glossy rings rippling across the lake.” They are getting along. This was surprising; I thought they wouldn’t get along.
-Page 74. “How can you not like trees? It’s like not liking water, or the sun, or breathing.” Now Murphy is getting used to the nature.
-Page 83. “Leeda, her cousin, whom she’d known her entire life, had snuck out with Murphy while she, Birdie, had gone to bed at ten o’clock.” She was left out. She wasn’t part of the group.
-Page 84. “Yeah, okay. Whatever. She scowled at the dogs, at Birdie, then trudged up the stairs.” Murphy isn’t even trying to be nice to Birdie. This probably hurts Birdie and she doesn’t defend herself.
-Page 88. “You could blame him for not wanting to flirt with a chubby girl with a mustache.” She thinks so badly of her self.
-Page 90. “Maybe it’s better for him to get out of farming.” You can’t give away something that has been your whole life that easy.
-Page 94. “Birdie said, I’ll see you.” Murphy and Birdie had a good conversation. Maybe Murphy noticed how lonely Birdie is.
-Page 100. “She wanted to help. She wanted to belong with people who helped one another.” She realized that the life she has to go back too is not a very good one and she want to be part of something.
-Page 102. “Birdie just couldn’t believe how good people could be. And also how disappointing.” Birdie didn’t do anything wrong to them and they let her down.
-Page 103. “Not everyone is as, um, strong… not everyone cares like you. That is it.” Enrico noticed how good of a girl Birdie is and he helped her see that. I like how much she helps people and how unselfish she is.
-Page 112. “Maybe it would be better if I got out of your hair.” Her parents don’t pay attention tow her. She needs someone that loves her.
-Page 117. “Birdie had thought maybe she was reconsidering the divorce. Now it seemed it was just becoming more concrete.” She’s not giving time to think about what is going on. This is too hard on Birdie.
-Page 119. “If her dad had given up and her mom had given up, then how could she hold things together on her own?” Birdie is going through a hard time.
-Page 122. “I don’t need an escort, Murphy said” She’s smart and she doesn’t care what other people think but she strands up for her self.
-Page 127. “When she saw Leeda, she lifted her head slightly and just said simply, you.” They are friends for a while then at school they are not. Does this help them?
-Page 131. “More exhausted then she’d ever been in her life, and also more drained.” She cares a lot about the peaches. This time she is stronger.
-Page 134. “During each commercial break Birdie tried to think of something to say.” She is strong enough to go talk to him this time. They are both very nervous.
-Page 137. “She’d never felt more desperate for someone to talk to. And there was no one.” She needs someone that loves her and that she can trust.
-Page 140. “She never would have imagined that Murphy could look so defeated or that she would want anyone to see her that way.” Just like Birdie, she needs someone to talk to.
-Page 141. “I was wondering if maybe you’d take me to sneak out.” She gained confidence in herself.
-Page 145. “Murphy was doing laps, and Leeda was sitting on the edge of the lake.” She is having fun for the first time in a long time.
-Page 148. “She had this uneasy feeling that she didn’t want to let Birdie down.” Now Murphy also noticed how good of a person Birdie is.
-Page 151. As if she was wondering if they were really friends yet or strangers again.” I think they are friends.
-Page 157. “She didn’t rally know Murphy or even her cousin, at all… it felt like Birdie and Murphy might turn out to be friends like that…Leeda was happy.” They don’t know each other but they are friends.
-Page 162. “It was like they had double lives, separated distinctly into night and day.” They all needed someone that loved them so now they have each other. Maybe they will help Birdie with Enrico.
-Page 166. “How had Murphy noticed when she hadn’t?” They learn about each other by observing.
-Page 170. “I just love crazy people like this.” They are having fun and helping Birdie.
-Page 175. “Next time we’ll call someone else.” They were having fun but Rex was trying to keep them safe.
-Page 179. “It felt weird to have Birdie and Leeda go off with ought her.” She was used to her being the boss and the center of attention.
-Page 182. “Murphy walked back to her garden and did some more work.” She has something to do when she is alone.
-Page 184. “Sometimes Leeda was stunned at how perfect her sister was.” When she is with her sister, she thinks little of herself.
-Page 187. “She really did love Danay better.” It hurts her to know that her family doesn’t love her.
-Page 188. “Will you guys come with me to the engagement party?” They are sticking together. They are all very different but they get along.
-Page 189. “She was not going to do what she’d done last time, with the Band-Aid.” Her friends helped her gain this courage.
-Page 191. “Then he pulled back, fanning the pages of the books against his fingers.” She had the courage but he isn’t helping her.
-Page 193. “Thanks for coming with me, you guys.” They help each other a lot.
-Page 196. “I wonder what those papers are.” I think they want to know because they don’t want it to hurt her.
-Page 198. “Trust me, you’ll feel much better.” They each have different ways of living and they are showing each other it.
-Page 201. “Lucretia, who wanted only one child and was more than satisfied with the one she had.” This is why she doesn’t love her daughter.
-Page 204. “As they started across the lawn, two faces loomed out at Leeda.” Her friends come to support her.
-Page 206. “In fact, she’d never managed to act this mannerly for this long in her entire life.” She is working hard to please Leeda.
-Page 210. “She needs me” They need each other. They all came from different families were they aren’t loved. Now they have each other.
-Page 215. “You okay, Tweety Bird?” They worry about each other.
-Page 217. “It was like it all didn’t work quite right without the three of them.” They are all different but they connect.
-Page 219. “She wanted to share her success with someone other than two Papillion’s.” Her two friends changed her; before the orchard she wouldn’t have wanted to show anybody her success.
-Page 222. “But Rex poked her ribs and, like a little kid, she laughed and felt stupid for being jealous.
-Page 224. “The last days of the harvest were passing by.” Birdie was finally making friends and she was happy. Her dad is taking that away from her.
-Page 227. “The lump in Murphy’s throat was so big that she couldn’t speak.” Just like they once needed her, she needs them now.
-Page 231. “Loyalty was a funny thing. So was love. They both bit you when you least expected it.” But she was still loyal to them and she still loves them.
-Page 238. “She’d never done something this bad, ever, but she felt like an old pro at it.” She got this from Murphy. They all helped each other become better people.
-Page 240. “And maybe it was partly because this was the last of it, and it would never happen this way again.” This is their last night together. What will happen when they separate?
-Page 242. “The old Murphy would have pounded on the door anyway. But this one shuffled back into her room.” The ‘old’ Murphy wasn’t her anymore. Her friends changed her in a good way.
-Page 245. “Leeda’s my friend” I like that she did this. She cares about Leeda.
-Page 251. “Leeda took off down the stairs two at a time and slammed out onto the porch.” Their friendship is falling apart. They all had good things and together they were perfect. I don’t want them to separate.
-Page 255. “Okay, sweetie.” Leeda is mad at the wrong person.
-Page 257. “I guess what I’m saying is we’re lucky to be stuck.” She loved her sister the whole time but just realized it.
-Page 260. “Finally she turned toward the orchard.” She felt happy and safe in the orchard.
-Page 263. “My dear, duh. My car can make it al the way to Texas.” Murphy went back to Birdie and will help her get the boy she wanted.
-Page 265. “I need you guys to get along. I need Leeda to come too.” They all need each other.
-Page 274. “Enrico, standing in a cloud of dust, coughing and looking as love stuck as anyone she’d ever seen.” What will happen now?
-Page 279. “I’ll probably never see you guys again. I can’t stand either of you!” Birdie finally exploded with all her secrets and thoughts.
-Page 282. “Birdie, this is a bad storm. We’ve gotta get inside.” They care about her.
-Page 287. “It would take at least two years for their trees to bear fruit.” This is a miracle. This will keep the girls together.
-Page 289. “Murphy knew what she had, in fact, always known. That it was she who was the coward.” Without her friends, she wouldn’t have realized this.
-Page 293. “It’s funny; you said it was easy to be jealous of a sister like me. I’ve always felt the same about you.” Leeda is original, not a clone of her mother.
-Page 295. “The fact is, you’re the guy who broke up me and Murphy.” She realized that Murphy was better than Rex.
-Page 298. “I exist, dad. It’s my life too.” She wasn’t this strong before to face up to her dad.
-Page 303. “You’re gonna be my boyfriends right?... I’ve never had one.” She makes everyone feel like she is superior but now she is not.
-Page 306. “They were finally complete.” If one was missing then it wasn’t the same. There were made to stick together not to fight and stay apart.
-Page 311. “This time they would know.” With out each other they were nobody. They were best friends from the start. I like the ending.