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Cynthia’s Mother
The protagonist of “Ookabooka Land,” Cynthia is the class clown at Latimer Middle School. She jokes with everyone, and even has a deal with Mrs. Stevens that lets her perform during the last five minutes of class in exchange for behaving the rest of the period. Cynthia learned to joke and to perform from her grandfather, Cinder, who used to own a liquor store and perform for customers while at work. Cynthia idolizes her grandfather as well as Cynthia’s mother, who works and attends night school. Many days after school, Cynthia puts on a comedy show at the park near her apartment complex. She holds it every day at 3:33 p.m.—which is to give her mom the opportunity to come and share a laugh, though Cynthia’s mom never comes. None of Cynthia’s classmates come either. Every day after her comedy show, Cynthia writes jokes, which she seals in envelopes and addresses to her own apartment. She gives them to Cinder, since he’s losing his memory and later thinks that he wrote the jokes. This way, Cynthia can perform jokes that Cinder supposedly wrote at school and tell him that his jokes are still working. She also regularly picks up cigarette butts for Cinder, which she calls “giggles” since they make him laugh.
Cynthia “Say-So” Sower Quotes in Look Both Ways
The Look Both Ways quotes below are all either spoken by Cynthia “Say-So” Sower or refer to Cynthia “Say-So” Sower. 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:
).
1. Water Booger Bears
Quotes
There was a hole in the screen door that had been there for years. TJ’s foot had done that. He said sometimes his feet get mad and do things like kick or stomp or run. Don’t blame him, he’d say. And Jasmine would laugh because his jokes were always funny even though she knew they were almost never jokes.
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8. Ookabooka Land
Quotes
That’s all Say-So ever wanted. A love thing with her mother, the way her grandfather had with Miss Fran—through laughter. And since her mother was too busy to break, well then, anyone would have to do. A smile is a smile. A ha is a ha. So every day she’d rattle off her jokes at the end of class, bathing in her classmates’ crack-ups.
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“What would happen if a school bus fell from the sky?”
Cynthia thought for a second, a smile creeping onto her lips. “I mean…is it coming from Ookabooka Land?”
Silence.
Just that thought between them. Cynthia looking at her grandfather, her Cinderella, her cinder block. The man who taught her to perform. Taught her that life is funny most of the time, and the times it ain’t funny are even funnier. And there ain’t no forgetting that.
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9. How a Boy Can Become a Grease Fire
Quotes
Gregory Pitts’s friends love him so much that they told him the truth. And the truth was, he smelled dead. Like, rotten. It wasn’t that he was rotten, but just that he smelled like his body had mistaken its organs for garbage and that he was essentially a walking, talking trash can. And on this, of all days, that smell just wasn’t going to cut it. So in an act of service and sheer desperation, Remar Vaughn, Joey Santiago, and Candace Greene—Gregory’s crew—decided to help him out. Because today was a day of romance.
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Get the entire Look Both Ways LitChart as a printable PDF.
Cynthia “Say-So” Sower Quotes in Look Both Ways
The Look Both Ways quotes below are all either spoken by Cynthia “Say-So” Sower or refer to Cynthia “Say-So” Sower. 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:
).
1. Water Booger Bears
Quotes
There was a hole in the screen door that had been there for years. TJ’s foot had done that. He said sometimes his feet get mad and do things like kick or stomp or run. Don’t blame him, he’d say. And Jasmine would laugh because his jokes were always funny even though she knew they were almost never jokes.
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
8. Ookabooka Land
Quotes
That’s all Say-So ever wanted. A love thing with her mother, the way her grandfather had with Miss Fran—through laughter. And since her mother was too busy to break, well then, anyone would have to do. A smile is a smile. A ha is a ha. So every day she’d rattle off her jokes at the end of class, bathing in her classmates’ crack-ups.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“What would happen if a school bus fell from the sky?”
Cynthia thought for a second, a smile creeping onto her lips. “I mean…is it coming from Ookabooka Land?”
Silence.
Just that thought between them. Cynthia looking at her grandfather, her Cinderella, her cinder block. The man who taught her to perform. Taught her that life is funny most of the time, and the times it ain’t funny are even funnier. And there ain’t no forgetting that.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
9. How a Boy Can Become a Grease Fire
Quotes
Gregory Pitts’s friends love him so much that they told him the truth. And the truth was, he smelled dead. Like, rotten. It wasn’t that he was rotten, but just that he smelled like his body had mistaken its organs for garbage and that he was essentially a walking, talking trash can. And on this, of all days, that smell just wasn’t going to cut it. So in an act of service and sheer desperation, Remar Vaughn, Joey Santiago, and Candace Greene—Gregory’s crew—decided to help him out. Because today was a day of romance.
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