How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Come give me a hug," she said, so I did, even though I didn't feel like it. "How did you get so tall?" I shrugged, hoping she wouldn't go on. "I'm going to the library," I told her, which was a lie, but by the way she was looking at me I knew she hadn't really heard, since it wasn't me she saw. (11.6)
Alma is clearly suggesting that her mother is using her as a surrogate for her father. That she is dishonest with her mother twice (giving her a meaningless hug and then lying about the library) without her mom even noticing is evidence of that myopia (a big, fun word for shortsightedness).
Quote #8
She turned to look at me over her shoulder. "Dad used to love to garden," she said, as if I'd never known him at all. (11.25)
Once again, Alma is offended by her mother's blindness and insensitivity toward Alma's own processing of grief over her father's death.
Quote #9
10. MEMORIES PASSED DOWN TO ME FROM MY MOTHER (11.26)
Alma provides a list of memories from both her mother and her father. They both hail from distant, unknown lands—England and Israel, respectively, and also South America and Europe. This just reinforces Alma's isolation from her family, both historically and emotionally.