Pg. 3 His parents encourage him to be loud when he runs into racism, but it isn’t always loud when it runs into him.

This means if there was out loud racism said to his face, he would deal with it, but it isn’t always like that, sometimes it is behind his back or not out loud.

This quote matters because not all racism is out loud and easy to deal with, it can be secretive and painful.

Pg. 34 T.J. thinks that Rich Marshall is everything bad about the human species combined.

This means that T.J. really dislikes Rich and thinks he is doing everything wrong, but Rich might think he is doing it right.

Always put yourself in others shoes before you make decisions, and remember it is just your opinion.

Pg. 45 He says he loves the way life can put things in perspective for you.

It means that T.J. likes that life shows different perspectives for you.

It matters because it explains that life can show you other people’s perspectives.

Pg. 49 T.J. explains how Georgia Brown is like a mom to him.  She always gives him advice.

T.J. really appreciates the care Georgia shows for him and likes all of her advice.

She helped him through his life so far and he still is helping him out even though he is a senior.

Pg. 52 T.J. describes Barbour.  He is the popular football stud in that “loud conquering-hero sort of way”.

It means that Mike is probably unpopular with T.J. because he hates those types of guys.

T.J. is right in his decision about thinking that Barbour because those kids are usually bad and mean.

Pg. 69 Heidi tries to rub off her black skin.  Her father is so horrible that she wants to do that.

This is unbelievable.  Her father is so bad he cusses at her and makes her want to wash off her skin!

This shows how bad some people in this world are.  It is so bad how Heidi knows all those words and experiences them.

Pg. 113 T.J. wants to “mess up” Barbour and “see blood splattered on the lockers”.  He is mad.

T.J. still has a few anger problems and wants to take things way too far, but he controls himself.

Because of his bad childhood from his bio-mom, he has some anger problems still.

Pg. 120 T.J. figures out that he can win something in the state competitions with his times.

T.J. is a really fast swimmer and can help improve Cutters stats in swimming.

It will make the swim team one step closer to getting letter jackets.

Pg. 130 T.J. talks with his dad about “whale talk” and is surprised by it.

He figures how different it would be if everyone talked like whales.

Everyone would hear each other no matter what they said.

Pg. 140 Kristen is harassed by Mike and T.J. wants to kill him.

Mike beats up Kristen and it shows how much T.J. hates him.

Mike Barbour is really a bad guy.  T.J. is very protective of what he thinks is right.

Pg. 146 T.J. is lectured by is mom about rage and why Mike does those things that he does.

His mom knows all about what is happening and that she is right about T.J.

Sometimes people can not let their rage take over because it will make them do bad things.

Pg. 161 The team is at the state swimming conference.

The team has made it a long way and T.J. is doing really good.

This is where it is decided whether anyone on the swim team gets letter jackets or not.

Pg. 164 Mott describes how he was horribly treated in his childhood from Rance Haskins.

Mott was also mistreated as a child too, and he is a little strange because of that. (He is missing a leg!)

He views life differently than everyone else, and he is different from everyone else in the way he reacts to things.

Pg. 168 The Athletic Council wants to revote on the letter requirements for the swim team.

They figured out that they were cheated and they really seem like they don’t want the swim team to get jackets.

It shows that people think that “different” people shouldn’t get good things like other “normal” people.

Pg. 170 The meeting has lots of tension and is really getting heated.

T.J. makes Benson and Mike mad at what he is saying.

T.J. is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.

Pg. 175 Rich calls T.J.’s house a lot trying to get a hold of Alicia and T.J. and his dad find him at 7 eleven.

Rich really wants Alicia back even though he is still going to be bad to her.

Rich is the guy who does bad stuff then sounds sorry and brings the girl back, and is bad again.

Pg. 181 T.J. is at the championships and he is trying to win a medal but losses on purpose.

T.J. doesn’t care about trophies or jackets, he just does what he believes in.

T.J. is a good guy who does what is good for other people.

Pg. 186 The Swim team is going home and they exchange good-by’s and might never see each other again.

The team is happy with what they accomplish and go on their own ways.

The team is leaving and they are very proud of what they have done at that school.

Pg. 193 Heidi scrubs her arm and it is bleeding badly and T.J.’s dad is going after Rich.

T.J.’s dad is mad at Rich and is going to do something about it.

T.J.’s dad is not afraid to get messy with Rich because Rich really pissed him off.

Pg. 216 T.J. Visits his “brother” and tells him about their dad and how he was dead now.

T.J. did what his dad wanted to do, go visit that women who he accidentally killed her son.

T.J. gets a job offer from his “brother” and has a happy ending to his drama he went through.