How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake here, the largest lake in Texas. That was over a hundred years ago. Now it is just a dry, flat wasteland.
There used to be a town of Green Lake as well. The town shriveled and dried up along with the lake, and the people who lived there. (1.1-2)
Saddest opening to a book ever, don't you think? But one thing's for sure: we're already clued in to the fact that transformation is going to be a key concept. We're not told why or how the town of Green Lake changed so drastically, but we do know that something major went down here.
Quote #2
If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy.
That was what some people thought. (2.3-4)
What do you think it is about digging holes that "some people" think will turn a person from bad to good? Is this an assumption based in logic, or does it spring from some other source?
Quote #3
"On the day of Myra's fifteenth birthday, you should carry the pig up the mountain for the last time. Then take it directly to Myra's father. It will be fatter than any of Igor's pigs. "
"If it is that big and fat," asked Elya, "how will I be able to carry it up the mountain?"
"The piglet is not too heavy for you now, is it?" asked Madame Zeroni.
"Of course not," said Elya.
"Do you think it will be too heavy for you tomorrow?"
"No."
"Every day you will carry the pig up the mountain. It will get a little bigger, but you will get a little stronger." (7.49-55)
We tend to think of transformation as a sudden, dramatic occurrence (e.g., holy moly, the frog turned into a prince!). But Madame Zeroni reminds Elya that it can be a slow process, too, requiring a lot of hard work and perseverance.