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1. Water Booger Bears
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Look Both Ways, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Perspective and Assumptions
Independence, Freedom, and Identity
Joy, Resilience, and Childhood
Fear, Friendship, and Support
Bullying
Summary
Analysis
The narrator warns readers that if they ever see John John Watson, Francy Baskin, Trista Smith, or Britton “Bit” Burns, who are known as the Low Cuts, the reader should watch their pockets—these kids are known thieves. They regularly steal the contents of the penny dishes at convenience store counters, and they often challenge classmates to “quarter wars.” In a quarter war, two people spin quarters like tops, and whoever’s quarter lasts the longest or knocks the other quarter over gets both quarters. If a person is going to enter a quarter war with a Low Cut, they’re going to lose or get punched (and a quarter isn’t worth a punch).
Introducing the Low Cuts in this way makes these four kids seem genuinely scary and concerning. They’re thieves, and they’re so intent on stealing pocket change that they’re willing to hurt people just for a quarter. The narrator implies that most everyone at school knows this about the Low Cuts; this reputation is well-established, and it’s just a fact of life that the Low Cuts are going to steal.
Themes
The Low Cuts don’t steal for fun, and they don’t like doing it. They feel like they have to. Before they became the Low Cuts, they were part of another group: the “free-lunchers,” or the kids who got free lunch because their parents couldn’t afford lunch money. The Low Cuts didn’t feel anything special about needing free lunch, but other kids teased Bit. Bit made sure those kids didn’t tease him again.
Now, the story starts to offer more backstory into why the Low Cuts steal—encouraging readers, at least, to see them as three-dimensional people. They steal because their families aren’t well-off, and Bit, at least, has such a gruff exterior because kids bully him for being poor. In a way, the very people who see the Low Cuts as terrible, unfixable thieves have made the Low Cuts that way by bullying them.
Themes
Bit, John John, Francy, and Trista aren’t the only kids at school who get free lunch, but they are the only kids whose parents are cancer survivors. Ms. Lane, the guidance counselor, started a support group for the four of them where they could talk about watching their parents’ bodies wither during treatment and their hair fall out. They talked about whether their parents would survive and what the kids would do if their parents didn’t, but they never talked about how the treatments destroyed their families’ finances.
The fact that the Low Cuts’ parents all have cancer adds even more depth to their backstories. The descriptions of the support group highlight that these four kids are all afraid—their lives could change in an instant if a parent died. But while the group discussed the possibility of parents dying, it seems as though the adults perhaps tried to protect the kids by not talking to them about the financial impact of the cancer treatments. The fact that the costs come up here in this way, though, shows that the kids found out and have perhaps taken matters into their own hands.
Themes
The kids only learned about their parents’ finances because Bit’s mom, Ms. Burns, told Bit everything, Bit told his friends, and when they asked their parents about it, their parents didn’t want to lie. This is why the kids started the Low Cuts and cut their hair almost bald. They started stealing loose change. Usually they use the money for extra food at lunch, but it’s for something else today.
The Low Cuts become more sympathetic given their parents’ cancer diagnoses, and given that they usually spend their stolen change on extra food. They’re just hungry kids who want more food than the school can supply—so although they’re doing something illegal, their actions are morally complex. Ending this passage by noting that the kids are going to do something else with their money today creates tension. There’s no telling what they’ll use the money for, and if it’ll be just as innocent as buying extra food.
Themes
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When the end of day bell rings, it’s like a starter pistol. Bit, Trista, John John, and Francy hurry from their classes to their lockers, and then to their meeting spot out front of the school. They pass a uniformed boy holding a broken skateboard and Gregory Pitts and his friends on the way to their bench, which Bit chose as their meeting spot. Bit is the smallest member of the Low Cuts, but he’s the most confident and has the worst temper—he’s known for knocking people out. He once knocked out a kid named Trey when Trey made fun of John John’s patch of gray hair. Fortunately he did so in the crosswalk by school, and the crossing guard, Ms. Post, was there to help Trey.
Describing the final bell as a starter pistol creates a sense of urgency: whatever the Low Cuts are up to, it needs to be done as quickly as possible. Bit seems like a loyal and loving friend, but as with the stealing, he’s doing a noble thing in a questionable way. The story also highlights how important support figures like the crossing guard are in a school setting: Ms. Post was there to clean up Bit’s mess and make sure Trey was okay.
Themes
Bit also knocked out boys for Francy when they teased her about having short hair, but Trista doesn’t need Bit’s help with anything. Her dad put her through tae kwon do, and everyone has seen her kicks. Together, the Low Cuts are the kids the teachers worry about. The teachers mark the kids as being “at risk,” and Ms. Wockley shakes her head at them no matter what they do. The fact that they’re “a braid of brilliance and bravado” concerns all the adults.
The way the teachers talk about the Low Cuts suggests that they sympathize with the kids, but they’re concerned by how brash and violent the kids are. The Low Cuts are smart, but the teachers object to the fact that they’re trying to do everything themselves rather than asking the adults for help. In a sense, the Low Cuts have grown up long before the teachers expected them to, and this concerns the teachers.
Themes
His foot on the bench, Bit asks Trista, John John, and Francy if they’re ready. Trista is talking to a boy who looks scared, but she turns around and announces that it’s 3:16 p.m. Francy adds that “the truck” comes in an hour, so John John holds out his hand for his friends’ loose change. The change has come from unsuspecting boys’ pockets, vending machines, or Mr. Munch’s piles of dust. Trista counts 90 cents, and Bit spits that they’ll have to make it work. He leads his friends toward Portal Avenue, the main road.
Trista announcing the time, and the fact that the kids have an hour to be ready for “the truck,” continues to build tension and urgency. Whatever they’re doing with their 90 cents, they don’t have much time to do it. Bit’s “spitting” and his attempts to rally the group highlight that he’s the leader; whatever they’re planning is his idea, and he’s going to make sure it happens.
Themes
Francy is anxious, so she’s talking on and on to John John about a classmate named Satchmo, and what Satchmo might be short for. The conversation annoys Bit, but so does Trista’s attempt to talk to him about their English homework. Ms. Broome wants students to write about being something else. Bit snaps that maybe he’ll write about being a school bus as a bus screeches to a stop near them. Bit covers his ears, says he hates the sound of bus brakes, and says he’d be a flying school bus so he doesn’t make noise. Trista laughs; she can see Bit as a school bus, falling out of the sky. Bit snaps that he’d be a rocket in that case.
Even though these kids are supposedly criminals, they read like normal kids here: Francy is worried about whatever is going to happen (suggesting she might not be fully on board), while Trista seems pretty intent on doing her homework for a hardened thief. These details highlight that these kids aren’t just thieves—they have richer lives than their classmates perhaps give them credit for. When Bit mentions being a flying school bus, it recalls the mention of the falling bus at the beginning of “Water Booger Bears.” But in this case, the school bus is entirely imaginary, and it might not even be a bus. Bit illustrates that with a bit of imagination, a school bus can easily become something entirely different, like a rocket ship.
Themes
After six blocks, the Low Cuts turn on Crossman Street and stop at the first house on the corner. The house is a mess, but this is where the neighborhood candy lady, Ms. CeeCee, lives. She’s been the candy lady for decades and everyone loves her, since she’s the closest thing to a corner store the neighborhood has. She’s also open 24 hours. Bit leads everyone through Ms. CeeCee’s yard and then rings the bell several times. Francy tells Bit to calm down, and soon they hear Ms. CeeCee calling for them to be patient.
Juxtaposing Ms. CeeCee’s messy house and yard with the fact that she’s also the beloved neighborhood candy lady is another lesson in not prejudging people—the appearance of Ms. CeeCee’s house doesn’t make her less valuable or beloved in the neighborhood. Bit’s anxiety keeps things moving, though he’d rather things be going even faster. Francy, though, insists that they have to show Ms. CeeCee respect, or they’re not going to get candy from her. They’re still just kids, and there’s still a power dynamic between them and Ms. CeeCee.
Themes
Ms. CeeCee opens the door. She’s a small lady with a black wig and a turquoise cut-off sweatsuit. She asks what the kids want, and John John, the nicest of the Low Cuts, starts to answer. But Bit interjects that they need candy, and they’re in a hurry. Bit only calms down when Trista tells him to. John John says they have 90 cents and need as much candy as that can buy. Ms. CeeCee studies the kids and asks if she wants to know what they’re doing, but nobody answers, so she pretends she never asked.
Whatever the Low Cuts are doing is clearly extremely important to Bit, since he’s the one hurrying things along. But again, his friends remind him that they have to respect adults like Ms. CeeCee, or they’re never going to get the help they need. Ms. CeeCee, for her part, seems to feel similar to how the teachers at school do about the Low Cuts. She seems to imply that she expects the kids to be up to no good, and if they won’t tell her exactly what’s going on, she’s going to absolve herself of any responsibility by pretending not to care.
Themes
The Low Cuts wait on the steps as Ms. CeeCee disappears into her house (kids can’t go inside; that’s the start of every abduction story and Ms. CeeCee doesn’t want to worry parents). She returns a few minutes later with a card table on which she places boxes of candy. Pennies, nickels, and dimes, she says, will buy “the old stuff.” Bit whines that nobody wants stale candy, but Ms. CeeCee says it’s just old styles of candy, like the Michael Jordan sneakers the kids keep paying for. She says it used to cost a penny, but she’s applying an “attitude tax” of four cents. Anyway, things always cost more over time. Francy notes that this is inflation, and Bit mutters quietly to himself.
Things take a humorous and far more innocent turn when the narrator notes that Ms. CeeCee goes out of her way to make sure parents won’t worry about their kids buying candy from her. The only way she can continue to supply candy to kids like the Low Cuts is by respecting the community she serves and by making sure she helps protect kids. In this passage, she serves as a mentor, reminding Bit to use his manners and to show adults respect. Francy is making connections between what Ms. CeeCee is saying and what she’s learning in school when she identifies inflation at work, showing again that the Low Cuts are perhaps taking school more seriously than their teachers believe.
Themes
Ms. CeeCee points out the candies: Mary Janes, Tootsie Rolls, Squirrel Nut Zippers (which always makes Bit laugh), Life Savers, and so on. The Low Cuts examine the candy. Francy asks Bit what they should get—he knows best how to “use it.” Ms. CeeCee moans that she doesn’t want to know, but Bit asks what candy was her favorite when she was a kid. She says she loved the Mary Janes for the peanut butter, and the Life Savers for the pure sugar. Bit asks for as many of those two as they can get. Ms. CeeCee takes the coins from John John and counts out nine of each candy. Bit scoops it up and walks away. Ms. CeeCee calls after him that she’s praying for the kids’ mamas and says the kids will always be “knuckleheads” to her.
Once again, Ms. CeeCee moaning that she doesn’t want to know what the Low Cuts are going to do with the candy implies that she believes they’re going to do something sinister with it. However, this seems questionable given what the kids normally do with their money (buy extra food at lunch). And the fact that Bit is finally willing to let his guard down and ask Ms. CeeCee for her advice also shows that he’s willing to rely on the adults around him for help—on occasion, when it’s convenient for him. Ms. CeeCee’s role as a mentor to the kids also shines through here. She’s looking out for them when their parents can’t, and she’s trying to keep them out of trouble.
Themes
Back at Portal Avenue, John John pulls out a wad of plastic baggies and asks Francy to do the math. She says they bundle the candies in threes and sell them for a dollar each, earning six dollars. John John says that’s not enough, and Bit says he knows the guys they’re selling to. They don’t carry change, so if the Low Cuts charge $1.50, they’ll get $2. Bit says to speed things up, they should do three bundles of six candies, ask $2.50, and they’ll walk away with $9. The group races to Placer Street, bags the candy, and Trista says they have 15 minutes.
The Low Cuts seem like they’re only going to try to resell the candy—though Bit’s knowledge of “the guys they’re selling to” suggests that they might be walking into something that’s way over their heads. They’re dealing with a type of adult that the other kids, at least, aren’t familiar with. But they trust Bit, so they’re willing to take his advice and do as he says.
Themes
The Low Cuts stop outside of a building with a sign that reads “Placer Pool.” Bit leads Trista, Francy, and John John into the smoky pool hall filled with old men. A man behind the bar tells Bit the kids can’t be in here, which Bit knows—but he also knows he can make money here. He tells the barman that he and his friends are selling candy. The man does know Bit from the neighborhood; he fixed Bit’s mother’s car once. Bit supervised him the whole time, just in case he was going to try to cheat Ms. Burns.
Bit is intent only on making money. And just as when he steals pocket change at school, the rules that are supposed to govern his conduct don’t matter to him—here, he’s willing to go into an establishment that’s presumably only for people 21 and over to accomplish his goal. Meanwhile, the barman establishes that Bit is devoted to and protective of Ms. Burns. Again, Bit steps out of his role as a dependent child to make sure his mom is okay.
Themes
Francy holds up the bags and says they have Mary Janes and Life Savers. At the mention of Mary Janes, a man in an eye patch perks up—he hasn’t had Mary Janes in forever. He and several other men discuss the old candies they used to eat. Bit interrupts: he’s not supposed to be here, so do any of the men want to buy? The baggies contain three of each candy and are $2.50. One old man says the candies used to cost a penny, but Bit and John John shrug that gas also used to cost a dollar. One man says he doesn’t want to pass on the Mary Janes, so he gives Bit three dollars when Bit says he doesn’t have change. Two other men buy the next two bags moments later.
Bit might have resented Ms. CeeCee marking up the candy only 15 minutes ago, but now he’s essentially shrugging and citing inflation as he sells the candy for way more than Ms. CeeCee did. So, although Ms. CeeCee probably didn’t realize it at the time, she was helping Bit figure out how to sell his candies and make the price seem reasonable. And the story shows that Bit was right about these old men not carrying change, and about them being willing to lose 50 cents for the candy—he’s a skilled businessman who knows his customers.
Themes
The Low Cuts hurry out of the pool hall. Trista doesn’t have to check her phone to know they’re late: the ice cream truck is pulling away from its spot on Placer Street, where it waits until 4:02 p.m. She leads Bit, Francy, and John John toward the truck at a run, screaming for it to stop. It finally stops and the young man opens up the window. Bit orders four soft serves with sprinkles and gives the man the entire nine dollars; one dollar is a tip.
Just as when the Low Cuts buy extra food at lunch, the kids aren’t doing anything nefarious with their nine dollars, just buying ice cream. This explains why Bit has been hurrying everyone along the whole time—there’s a small window of time to catch the ice cream truck. The fact that Bit tips the ice cream man also cuts into the perception that he’s a bad kid who only cares about himself.
Themes
Bit leads his friends a few houses down and unlocks his door. He calls for his mom, Ms. Burns. She comes down the stairs to four kids holding untouched ice creams. She recently relapsed, so she’s pale. Bit shrugs his mom off when she asks how school was and instead asks how her first day back on chemotherapy was. Ms. Burns says she’s okay, but nauseous. Bit says he thought she might be, so he brought her ice cream. Trista, John John, and Francy watch Bit transform from a hustler into a scared son who loves his mom. Ms. Burns smiles.
Bit and his mom’s interactions allow readers to see how Bit steps into an adult role so he can try to take care of her. What happened at school—his day-to-day life—isn’t important to him. What’s important to him is how Ms. Burns is feeling, and that he’s gone out of his way to make her feel better. Noting that Bit transforms into a “scared son” highlights just how much fear rules Bit’s life. He’s trying to make his mom feel better because he loves her, but also because he fears he might not be able to do nice things for her for much longer.
Themes
