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Mr. Sims
Mr. Lema is Francisco’s sixth-grade teacher when Francisco briefly attends a school in Fresno, California. Mr. Lema makes a big impact on Francisco’s life since he is very friendly and welcoming, and he helps Francisco with his English during their lunch breaks every day. Francisco grows quite attached to Mr. Lema and thinks of him as his “best friend at school.” One day, Mr. Lema promises Francisco that he will teach him how to play the trumpet. Francisco is very excited about this, but when he goes home that afternoon, he sees that his family has packed their belongings and are ready to move to the next farm. Francisco is very disappointed. His short but meaningful friendship with Mr. Lema highlights that his family’s constant moving is very disruptive to his education and to his happiness.
Mr. Lema Quotes in The Circuit
The The Circuit quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Lema or refer to Mr. Lema. 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:
).
The Circuit
Quotes
The rest of the month I spent my lunch hours working on English with Mr. Lema, my best friend at school.
One Friday during lunch hour Mr. Lema asked me to take a walk with him to the music room. “Do you like music?” he asked me as we entered the building. “Yes, I like corridos,” I answered. He then picked up a trumpet, blew on it, and handed it to me. The sound gave me goose bumps. […] I had heard it in many corridos. “How would you like to learn how to play it?” he asked. He must have read my face because before I could answer, he added: “I’ll teach you how to play it during our lunch hours.”
That day I could hardly wait to tell Papa and Mama the great news […] but when I opened the door to our shack, I saw that everything we owned was neatly packed in cardboard boxes.
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To Have and to Hold
Quotes
[…] Carl said, “When can I come to your house and see your collection?” His question took me by surprise. I never thought he would want to visit me at our home. And after seeing his house, I was not sure I wanted him to see where I lived. […]
After thinking of possible excuses, I finally said, “I live too far. I’ll bring my collection to school.” […]
I never got the chance to show Carl my collection. That weekend we moved to Five Points, and I never saw my friend again.
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Mr. Lema Quotes in The Circuit
The The Circuit quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Lema or refer to Mr. Lema. 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:
).
The Circuit
Quotes
The rest of the month I spent my lunch hours working on English with Mr. Lema, my best friend at school.
One Friday during lunch hour Mr. Lema asked me to take a walk with him to the music room. “Do you like music?” he asked me as we entered the building. “Yes, I like corridos,” I answered. He then picked up a trumpet, blew on it, and handed it to me. The sound gave me goose bumps. […] I had heard it in many corridos. “How would you like to learn how to play it?” he asked. He must have read my face because before I could answer, he added: “I’ll teach you how to play it during our lunch hours.”
That day I could hardly wait to tell Papa and Mama the great news […] but when I opened the door to our shack, I saw that everything we owned was neatly packed in cardboard boxes.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
To Have and to Hold
Quotes
[…] Carl said, “When can I come to your house and see your collection?” His question took me by surprise. I never thought he would want to visit me at our home. And after seeing his house, I was not sure I wanted him to see where I lived. […]
After thinking of possible excuses, I finally said, “I live too far. I’ll bring my collection to school.” […]
I never got the chance to show Carl my collection. That weekend we moved to Five Points, and I never saw my friend again.
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Explanation and Analysis:
