_A List of Cages_ by Robin Roe

Allusion

This house is basically a Charles Dickens orphanage, except the kids are happy and the villain here is complete outnumbered. p 29 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Matt gasps. He knows that Order of the Phoenix is the longest and most potentially dangerous of all the Harry Potter books when used as a weapon. p75 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Quotes for Teachers
This whole section where Adam tells the story of being Julian's reading buddy is something I'd love to get every reading teacher to read.

He said his dad had gotten them [a stack of books] for him because he was a good reader now. He went back to being cheerful-humming-Julian till the end of the year, when our buddies had to write an actual book report. p 48  A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Loss/ Grief/ Memories

It's strange how many ways there are to miss someone. You miss the things they did and who they were, but you also miss who you were to them. The way everything you said and did was beautiful or entertaining or important. How much you mattered. p 83 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Sometimes Julian says things that are like a sucker punch to the chest. I wish I could buy his house and give it to him, but it would still be sad because it would be empty, so I wish I could change that too-- that I had time-travel-world-spinning superpowers and could undo everything. p135 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

I'm crying, hard but without sound, into the stiff hospital blanket. I want to stop, but all I can picture is nine-year-old Julian's face when I gave him my brilliant piece of advice-- fearful and doubtful, because he must have already known the truth. Superheroes aren't real, and even if they are, they come too late. p 234 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

This sentence just gets me. I cried rereading it just now and had to decide if/ how to include it. I decided to include it because emotional sentences are important. And this is a beautiful description of a strong male lead in a book being vulnerable.

"But why can't the good things feel like forever? It was all so fast... before they left. I want to spin it back... slow it down. Why is time like that? Why does it slow down in the places you don't want it to, but it speeds away when you're happy?" p234 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Being awkward/ fitting in (or not) 

It's as awkward as I could imagine. Not because they aren't nice, but because I don't know what to say. I'm annoyed with myself for being so bad at things that everyone else can do without trying. p91 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

I nod, but I know I won't. If he's being nice enough to offer, I should be nice enough to never do it. p 96 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

"I mean, nothing bothers you. I guess that's why everyone loves you. You're so comfortable with yourself, you make everyone else feel comfortable too. And you're strong, like what hurts most people can't hurt you. But sometimes it seems like you don't need people. Like if this-- us-- works, you'll be fine with that, but if it doesn't, you'll still be okay. You won't break. Not the way I would." p 14 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

I love that one because I think it's just beautiful. And I think that it makes me want to be able to raise my kid to be so comfortable with himself. So that he'll love and accept everyone and let the negative stuff roll off him. 

ADHD

"When I was younger, my ADHD was sort of out of control. It drove my teachers frickin crazy. I wasn't trying to aggravate anyone, but it was like a psychical impossibility to sit still and do work. In sixth grade I was failing every single class-- seriously, every class-- so Mom took me to a doctor and I got on meds. p 95 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

 This quote starts a whole section that could be very helpful for teachers, students, parents, etc to learn a bit about how ADHD feels to some people and how what we do about it can help or hinder them.

Foreshadowing

It's a huge white stone two-story with long rows  of square windows, and tall peaking points at each end like towers. It's nice, but it seems weird. You just assume that anyone who owns a house like this could afford to buy a kid a cell phone and clothes that fit. p99 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

I turn around to see the long red stripes from my shoulders down the back of my legs. The legs that are pale and skinny, and according to Adam and Charlie, strangely hairless. I know Russell is just worried about my health, but I don't want to shave anymore, not if no other boy does it. p 119 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Everyone worried too much. p121 A List of Cages by Robin Roe

 And one more... from the acknowledgements just because it is gorgeous and so, so true.

Not long ago, I told my son I love him so much that sometimes my chest fills up like it's going to burst, and I have to take a deep breath. He responded, "That sounds like a medical condition." A List of Cages by Robin Roe

A few thoughts...

This book is told from two different points of view-- Adam, a teen boy raised by his single mother who is fierce in fighting for kids as a social worker, mom, and foster mom; and Julian whose parents die in an accident when he is young. He lives with Adam and his mother briefly and then gets placed with a dead aunt's husband. We see inside both boys' heads and we can see how much adults influence the thinking of the two. Adam's mom taught him to care for himself and others. Julian's uncle taught him that he was awful and that everything he did was wrong. Their self-talk is so radically different and there is so much beauty, truth, and sadness to this. This book makes me wonder so much about the self-talk of my students and what self-talk I'm teaching my son. 

**Any mistakes in the quotes are my own. Let me know if you notice any.**