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Nancy is a child who lives at the residential school. Originally from northwest Australia, she professes to prefer other children who come from the same area, like Emmy, Dot, and Annie, but she’s also friends with “sou’westers” like Janey and Tim. Nancy is an older girl who is on the threshold of being sent out to become a servant in someone’s home. Although she presents a tough exterior, she’s generally kind and friendly, especially to the younger children. She has a joyful sense of humor, and Annie appreciates her for her belly laugh. When Janey goes to the hospital wing, Nancy takes Annie under her wing.
Nancy Quotes in Sister Heart
The Sister Heart quotes below are all either spoken by Nancy or refer to Nancy. 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:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
Nancy comes up
spins me around
Ay, new girl!
Meet Emmy and Dot
They nor’westers too
Emmy and Dot
are bigger girls like Nancy
Emmy has curly hair like mine
Dot has a round face like Nancy
They nod at me shyly
Nancy says
Nor’westers stick together
Sou’westers stick together
Got it?
Janey elbows past Nancy
Hey, I’m sou’wester
and I got sou’wester and nor’wester friends!
Nancy teases
Ooh – prickly little sou’wester
Emmy pokes Janey
Dot laughs
Nancy towers over Janey
Mind ya own business, sou’wester!
Janey puts her hands on her hips
If I minded my own business
you wouldn’t have any stuff…
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
And guess what?
Me skull’s got freckles!
Come out, Annie
I’ll check your skull
for freckles
Who cares about freckles?
Nancy says
Leave her alone, Janey
You know what it’s like!
I hear Janey’s bed squeak
as she lies down
You be okay, Annie
Promise!
Nancy rolls her eyes
That’s what boys do
Forget boys!
Let’s be girls
make ourselves pretty
Nancy finds
a patch of bright flowers
Janey shows me
how to join them together
I’ve got flowers round my neck
round my head
round my arms
Nancy’s got more
Nancy stands
walks up and down
nose in the air
I’m Nancy
queen of the world!
I am too sad to eat bread and berries
Eatin’ makes you tougher
Janey says
You got to get tougher, Annie
Nuh, Janey
says Nancy
Teacher got it in for her now
Be watchin’ for a chance
to have another go
Annie got to talk
But I can’t talk
Sometimes
I feel my voice
rattling inside me
like a trapped thing
trying to get out
My voice got lost
when bully boots policeman
took me from the station
Don’t know when it will come back
Janey laughs
then winces in pain
I got them glasses
real sweaty and foggy
When Teacher yelled
at me to give ’em back
I dropped the stinky things
right into her hands
Shoulda seen her face
thought she might spew
You reckon she wear
them mucky things now?
Nancy laughs
You a smart little sou’wester!
Janey is smart
Tough too
But Janey is hurting
I pick up my blanket
I lay it softly over her
Janey groans
What Teacher gunna do without glasses?
Told ya I’d make her pay, Annie!
Chapter 3
Quotes
Stand straight
with your arms down
Now, repeat after me
Mary had a little lamb
its fleece was white as snow
everywhere that Mary went
the lamb was sure to go
So many english words
to say
all at once
I stutter and stumble
through the words
and when I get
to the last line
I get it wrong and say
the ham was sure to glow
The other kids bust out laughing
Teacher whacks me
but the edge misses
Tomorrow
we will do this again
We will do it every day
until you can say it perfectly
She shrugs
Government don’t like our family
Don’t like Annie’s family
or Nancy’s
That’s why they took us
to make us forget our families
to make us forget our country
to make us what they want
I won’t be what they want
’specially not on the inside
Grandpa told me
our people been in our country
forever
This is your home place, my girl
Your heart place
You remember that
My heart tells me
it’s the same
for Janey and Tim’s family
same for Nancy
same for all the kids here
Tim says
I won’t forget, sis
Can’t forget yourself!
says Janey
We all laugh
But I’m still not the Annie
they want me to be
They call me Annie
I answer to Annie
but they don’t know
who I really am
They don’t know Janey
Tim
Nancy
Emmy
Dot
Inside
we are all secrets
dreaming secret dreams
of another life
My language name
is still hiding
When I go home
and see Mum
it will spring out
like a seed sprouting
Till then it’s a secret
Me on the inside
is a secret
to the outside world
Only way to stay safe
form the world of this place
World of school
work
bossing
World of forgetting
World I don’t understand
I am like Janey
I keep my secrets hidden
Janey told me
her most secret secret
Her real name
I told her
my most secret secret
My real name
We promised each other
to keep our secrets safe
Me and Janey are good
at keeping secret things safe
Get the entire Sister Heart LitChart as a printable PDF.
Nancy Quotes in Sister Heart
The Sister Heart quotes below are all either spoken by Nancy or refer to Nancy. 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:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
Nancy comes up
spins me around
Ay, new girl!
Meet Emmy and Dot
They nor’westers too
Emmy and Dot
are bigger girls like Nancy
Emmy has curly hair like mine
Dot has a round face like Nancy
They nod at me shyly
Nancy says
Nor’westers stick together
Sou’westers stick together
Got it?
Janey elbows past Nancy
Hey, I’m sou’wester
and I got sou’wester and nor’wester friends!
Nancy teases
Ooh – prickly little sou’wester
Emmy pokes Janey
Dot laughs
Nancy towers over Janey
Mind ya own business, sou’wester!
Janey puts her hands on her hips
If I minded my own business
you wouldn’t have any stuff…
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
And guess what?
Me skull’s got freckles!
Come out, Annie
I’ll check your skull
for freckles
Who cares about freckles?
Nancy says
Leave her alone, Janey
You know what it’s like!
I hear Janey’s bed squeak
as she lies down
You be okay, Annie
Promise!
Nancy rolls her eyes
That’s what boys do
Forget boys!
Let’s be girls
make ourselves pretty
Nancy finds
a patch of bright flowers
Janey shows me
how to join them together
I’ve got flowers round my neck
round my head
round my arms
Nancy’s got more
Nancy stands
walks up and down
nose in the air
I’m Nancy
queen of the world!
I am too sad to eat bread and berries
Eatin’ makes you tougher
Janey says
You got to get tougher, Annie
Nuh, Janey
says Nancy
Teacher got it in for her now
Be watchin’ for a chance
to have another go
Annie got to talk
But I can’t talk
Sometimes
I feel my voice
rattling inside me
like a trapped thing
trying to get out
My voice got lost
when bully boots policeman
took me from the station
Don’t know when it will come back
Janey laughs
then winces in pain
I got them glasses
real sweaty and foggy
When Teacher yelled
at me to give ’em back
I dropped the stinky things
right into her hands
Shoulda seen her face
thought she might spew
You reckon she wear
them mucky things now?
Nancy laughs
You a smart little sou’wester!
Janey is smart
Tough too
But Janey is hurting
I pick up my blanket
I lay it softly over her
Janey groans
What Teacher gunna do without glasses?
Told ya I’d make her pay, Annie!
Chapter 3
Quotes
Stand straight
with your arms down
Now, repeat after me
Mary had a little lamb
its fleece was white as snow
everywhere that Mary went
the lamb was sure to go
So many english words
to say
all at once
I stutter and stumble
through the words
and when I get
to the last line
I get it wrong and say
the ham was sure to glow
The other kids bust out laughing
Teacher whacks me
but the edge misses
Tomorrow
we will do this again
We will do it every day
until you can say it perfectly
She shrugs
Government don’t like our family
Don’t like Annie’s family
or Nancy’s
That’s why they took us
to make us forget our families
to make us forget our country
to make us what they want
I won’t be what they want
’specially not on the inside
Grandpa told me
our people been in our country
forever
This is your home place, my girl
Your heart place
You remember that
My heart tells me
it’s the same
for Janey and Tim’s family
same for Nancy
same for all the kids here
Tim says
I won’t forget, sis
Can’t forget yourself!
says Janey
We all laugh
But I’m still not the Annie
they want me to be
They call me Annie
I answer to Annie
but they don’t know
who I really am
They don’t know Janey
Tim
Nancy
Emmy
Dot
Inside
we are all secrets
dreaming secret dreams
of another life
My language name
is still hiding
When I go home
and see Mum
it will spring out
like a seed sprouting
Till then it’s a secret
Me on the inside
is a secret
to the outside world
Only way to stay safe
form the world of this place
World of school
work
bossing
World of forgetting
World I don’t understand
I am like Janey
I keep my secrets hidden
Janey told me
her most secret secret
Her real name
I told her
my most secret secret
My real name
We promised each other
to keep our secrets safe
Me and Janey are good
at keeping secret things safe
