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Ms. Mays was Quan’s most beloved teacher in middle school. Unfortunately, she went on maternity leave right before Quan took an important test, and when Quan was falsely accused of cheating on said test, his life went downhill without Ms. Mays around to support and advocate for him. Quan thinks of Mrs. Mays often and how his life might’ve turned out differently had she been around to help him.
Ms. Mays Quotes in Dear Justyce
The Dear Justyce quotes below are all either spoken by Ms. Mays or refer to Ms. Mays. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
January 12
Quotes
The minute that van drove away with him in it, I felt...doomed.
It’s why I stopped talking to you. Everybody else too, but especially you. I woulda never admitted this (honestly don’t know why I’m admitting it now...) but I kinda looked up to you. Yeah, you were only a year older and you were dorky as hell, but you had your shit together in a way I wanted mine to be.
I knew if I could just be like you, my dad would be proud of me.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2: Downhill
Quotes
“And best believe your father is gonna hear about this. Might even send him the evidence of your indiscretion.” Quan could hear the paper crinkle as she surely held it up in the air. “Cheating. I can’t even believe you—”
And that was all he heard. Because in that moment everything crystallized for Vernell LaQuan Banks Jr.
It didn’t matter what he did.
Staying focused didn’t give Quan any control at all.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4: Defiance
Quotes
“Delinquent Junior,”
Dwight had been calling him for years.
Was that who he was for real?
There was no denying the impulse to take what wasn’t his. Was the D in his DNA for delinquent? The Jr. shorthand of “Junior” for just repeating?
Maybe Daddy had been wrong. Ms. Mays too.
There was no way out.
No way up.
Maybe a way through...but he had no idea what to.
Could he really be anyone different than who he was?
Who even was he?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ms. Mays Quotes in Dear Justyce
The Dear Justyce quotes below are all either spoken by Ms. Mays or refer to Ms. Mays. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
January 12
Quotes
The minute that van drove away with him in it, I felt...doomed.
It’s why I stopped talking to you. Everybody else too, but especially you. I woulda never admitted this (honestly don’t know why I’m admitting it now...) but I kinda looked up to you. Yeah, you were only a year older and you were dorky as hell, but you had your shit together in a way I wanted mine to be.
I knew if I could just be like you, my dad would be proud of me.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2: Downhill
Quotes
“And best believe your father is gonna hear about this. Might even send him the evidence of your indiscretion.” Quan could hear the paper crinkle as she surely held it up in the air. “Cheating. I can’t even believe you—”
And that was all he heard. Because in that moment everything crystallized for Vernell LaQuan Banks Jr.
It didn’t matter what he did.
Staying focused didn’t give Quan any control at all.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4: Defiance
Quotes
“Delinquent Junior,”
Dwight had been calling him for years.
Was that who he was for real?
There was no denying the impulse to take what wasn’t his. Was the D in his DNA for delinquent? The Jr. shorthand of “Junior” for just repeating?
Maybe Daddy had been wrong. Ms. Mays too.
There was no way out.
No way up.
Maybe a way through...but he had no idea what to.
Could he really be anyone different than who he was?
Who even was he?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
