The kids hated when their parents talked about things turning out okay. How could they know?
-- Mama (chapter 1)

Importance: This quote represents the children's rejection of Mama and Papa's common strategies for appeasing and reassuring them. The children realize that their parents have no more knowledge of how life will develop than they do, so they resent the platitudes they try to tell them. This is precisely when the children decide that they have to create their own plan to save their home rather than relying on their parents to come up with something.

As the kids settled in, Isa looked out at her siblings. As a biracial family, the kids exhibited an eclectic mix of physical characteristics and loved comparing which traits they got from what parent.
-- Isa (chapter 2)

Importance: The Vanderbeeker family is eclectic and diverse. In this quote, readers are introduced to their family's ethnicity and how much the children value their background...