We were living in our car that summer, which sounds like a lot of fun but actually wasn’t, because our car’s AC was busted.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: Mia’s admission that her family was living in their car demonstrates the level of poverty to which they dropped when they came to America. Mia describes how they visited the Houston space center simply to take advantage of the free air conditioning.

Because it’s freer here,’ she finally said, which didn’t make any sense. Nothing was free in America. Everything was so expensive.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: Mia misunderstands her mother’s explanation for why they decided to move to America. When Ying says that America is “freer” (4), Mia relates that to money. Her mother means that they came to America for freedom, that Mia did not have to worry about being arrested and imprisoned without a trial.

I thought I could make the front...
-- Narrator (Chapter 12)