Red, White, and Whole Quotes

“If virtue has a color, it’s the color of the life within us, dancing with every heartbeat. It’s the legacy of our ancestors, the gifts of our parents that we try to live up to”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole

“Together, we decide that a hero: Is brave, but not without fear. Because if you fear nothing, how can you be brave? Says what they believe is right. Because if you cannot say what you believe in, how much do you believe in it? Works to make the world better. Because doing something is even more important than talking about it. Acts out of love for others. Because caring for other people is the biggest difference between a hero and a villain.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole

“Her face is as bright as a full moon,
always gentle,
always changing, but
predictable.
Like our moon,
she only shows us one face.
The strong one.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole

“What does the sky do when the moon is gone forever?”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“You don’t have to worry about living in two worlds. You live in only one world, and that is the world in which we love you. No matter what your choices are.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“But I am always halfway, caught between the life my parents want and the one I have to live.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“We say goodbye to Amma.
I am empty.
I’ve been watching and saying goodbye
for months.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole

“« We say goodbye to Amma.
I am empty.
I’ve been watching and saying goodbye
for months. »”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole

“Moonlight and starlight
hurt
most of all,
piercing my skin in icy shards.
I am a fleck floating
like dust
in a beam of
darkness.
What does the sky do
when the moon is gone
forever?”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole

“All rivers lead to the same ocean.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole

“And know this: you belong. You belong to this country, where you are growing up. And you belong to India, where your blood is from. You belong to both, and they both belong to you. You will find your way in making those two streams one. You will write your own story, and it will be beautiful, because it is yours.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“Because caring for other people is the biggest difference between a hero and a villain.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“We raised you, we trust you, and we love you.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“What does the sky do
when the moon is gone
forever?”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole

“Leukemia.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“No matter where I go, America or India, I don’t quite fit.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“We are different from Americans, whispers Amma’s voice in my head. We work hard, we dress modestly, we focus on what is important to succeed. That is why we came to this country, and we won’t waste our opportunity, or change who we are. I listen to my mother. Always. But I am American. I was born here, it’s the only home I know. So I’m caught between the life I want to lead and the one she thinks I should.”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief

“born in a pool of my mother’s blood,”
― Rajani LaRocca, Red, White, and Whole: A Newbery Honor Novel in Verse about an Indian American Girl Navigating Identity and Grief