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174 Unit 2 ■ Analyzing Comparisons and Representations Sofia T. Romero ■ Cloud Nine 175 UNIT 2

Lourdes, I said. My name is Lourdes. 90 Yeah, no one calls me that, I said. Some- 4 CHARACTER The first time the reader is
Tina, she can’t be Jo because she is, Susie times my family calls me Luli. But not Lulu. introduced to Lourdes’s mother, Lourdes is
paused, well, she’s portorican that’s why and Christina nodded and said, Hey, I’m going IDEAS IN LITERATURE recalling a behavioral rule from her mother (which
Cloud Nine 50 Jo is not portorican. to race you to the top. is certainly not enacted in the home as revealed
I opened my mouth again but the words What do you mean? later in the text). The saying translates to “in a
Sofia T. Romero 4 would not come. En boca cerrada no entran 95 I’m on Cloud Five, she said. I’m going to closed mouth, no flies will enter” synonymous
would not come. En boca cerrada no entran
moscas, I heard Mami say. I stood up from race you to Cloud Nine. with the English equivalent, “if you don’t have
moscas, I heard Mami say. I stood up from
THE TEXT IN CONTEXT the grass, brushing dust off my Toughskins. I started pumping my legs. No way! I anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs were used with this sample chapter.
Writer Sofia T. Romero (b. 1972) is a native of Wellesley, 55 I could not be Jo. screamed. I’m going to get to Cloud Nine Combined with other scenes and dialogue in
the text, this is indicative of the hard relationship
C’mon, Lulu, said Susie. Say something in
Massachusetts. She received her undergraduate degree 5 C’mon, Lulu, said Susie. Say something in faster than you!
We pumped our legs faster and faster.
portorican. Ooono, dossss, tress, quatrrrro,
from Wellesley College and her graduate degree from Boston portorican. Ooono, dossss, tress, quatrrrro, 100 We pumped our legs faster and faster. Lourdes has with her mother.
she started counting.
I’m on Cloud Six! Cloud Seven! Cloud Eight!
College. Her fiction has appeared in literary journals such as she started counting. 7 I’m on Cloud Six! Cloud Seven! Cloud Eight! 5 WORD CHOICE Susie’s argument that
Blue Mountain Review, Waterwheel Review, Rigorous, and Leon It’s not called Puerto Rican, I muttered. We were gasping, swinging so high that
We were gasping, swinging so high that
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
Literary Review. Romero is an editor, as well as the proprietor Courtesy of Sofia T. Romero 60 Say something in portorican! she insisted sometimes the chain went slack. Lourdes cannot play the role of Jo is centered on
sometimes the chain went slack.
of the blog The Mighty Red Pen, which focuses on issues of and started to laugh. There was a cheer from the blacktop. the belief that Lourdes is different from herself
language and grammar. In “Cloud Nine,” she skillfully captures It’s called Spanish, I said, and then I ran. I 105 I could see the ball dribbling past the dia- and the other girls. The author uses “portorican”
the complex thoughts and emotions of the young protagonist. ran to the swings and climbed on and started mond, just out of reach of one of the boys, and the numbers in Spanish to show how
Lourdes hears Susie mispronounce the words
to swing and swing. the one wearing a striped top. He was (all the while ignoring the issue that the language
Cloud Nine 65 Swinging, I could see the foursome had running toward us to catch it. that they speak is Spanish, not Puerto Rican).
fallen apart. Christina had walked away. Hey, Lulu! he shouted when he saw us.
After a grey, drizzly morning, the sun finally I like being Beth, said Christina.
broke through. Outside on the playground for 25 And you’re good at it, I said, trying to be Susie kicked the dirt. I kept swinging. 110 Lulu’s a loser! He snickered and ran back to 6 CHARACTER Lourdes finds companionship
recess, we divvied up the roles. Everyone encouraging. I closed my eyes, felt the breeze on my the game. with Christina because she and Christina are
wanted to be Jo, of course. I called dibs. You can’t be Jo because Jo had brown hair face, my hair flying backward behind me and Ignore him, said Christina, and we went both children of immigrants and both experience
5 You can’t be Jo, Susie said. and you have black hair, said Susie to me, 70 then forward in front of me. back to our game. Six, seven, eight. I’m on discrimination and microaggressions by students
and school staff alike. They are both able to
Why not? I said, kicking the damp dirt a seizing on what she thought was some kind Can I swing with you? It was Christina. Cloud Nine! we yelled at the same time. And understand the unique challenges of immigrant
bit with my sneakers. We were all wearing 30 of reason. Down the hill, the boys were playing Sure, I said. I don’t care. 115 we swung and swung until the teacher whis- families, and at the bare minimum, they both
Christina was different from the other
sneakers, but I was the only one who didn’t kickball on the blacktop. Another group of 6 Christina was different from the other tled for the end of recess. know what it’s like to be treated differently than
girls. She has dark hair like me but her
get nice white sneakers that year. Mami girls was playing on the swings and Kimberly girls. She has dark hair like me but her • • • how others are treated.
mom and dad came from someplace else,
10 made me get Zips. They were navy blue so was upside down on the jungle gym again. 75 mom and dad came from someplace else,
too, from Greece. They spoke with even
they wouldn’t get dirty. Susie had white Everyone could see her underpants. too, from Greece. They spoke with even At home after dinner, I walked into the 7 IMAGERY Here and at the end of the text,
more accent than Mami and Papi did. She
Nikes, the leather kind. 35 The whistle. A teacher spotted Kimberly more accent than Mami and Papi did. She kitchen and when I saw them there, looking Lourdes swings on a swing set vigorously while
never asked me to say things in Puerto
Because, she started. And then she and ordered her to sit upright. She did, but never asked me to say things in Puerto sharply at each other, stabbing the air with counting up to Cloud Nine. She’s able to block
Rican or made fun of my hair when it got
paused. Why don’t you be Meg? stuck her tongue out at the teacher first. Rican or made fun of my hair when it got 120 their gestures and with the sound of their out the sources of distress and focus on bliss for
frizzy. And I didn’t make fun of the t-shirt
15 No one wanted to be Meg. Meg is bossy. I’m going to be Jo, I insisted. 80 frizzy. And I didn’t make fun of the voices. a little while.
She’s the annoying big sister. We all wanted She flushed. You can’t be Jo, Lulu, and I that her mom made her wear that said Foxy Today, Mami stood over the sink, trying to
Lady all over it. stuff something down the drain, the disposal
to be Jo because she was cool. I liked her 40 won’t play if you are.
because she wrote stories. Why can’t she just be Jo, Christina put in. Your mom made you wear Foxy Lady was running, the water was running. She got
You know what, said Christina. I’ll be Beth. Recess was almost over. We wouldn’t be able today, I said. 125 something down there, and I could hear
20 Phew. No one really wanted to be Beth, to play. 85 She rolled her eyes. Frowned. She doesn’t something grinding, grinding, and then stop-
who did nothing interesting but be sweet to I looked over at Christina, who smiled really get what it means, she said. ping. Papi had flicked the disposal switch.
everyone and then die at the end. Where’s 45 softly at me. Christina was always on Susie called you Tina, I said. Carajo, he said to her, grabbing her wrist
the fun in that? my side. Yeah, said Christina. No one else calls me and holding it tight. I can’t believe you would
that. And she called you Lulu. 130 do that.
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CREATIVE WRITING DIFFERENTIATION
Silence Is Golden Mode of Expression
At the beginning of “Cloud Nine” by Romero, Create illustrations of three to five scenes that
Lourdes hears Mami say these words, “En boca depict the story’s beginning, middle, and end.
cerrada no entran moscas.” Ask your students if The illustrations may be in any media (e.g., pen
anyone can translate the Spanish words. If not, and ink, watercolor, paint, digital, charcoal). Be
ask them to use the internet to find out the sure to depict the initial tone or perspective as
English equivalent. (The translation is “Silence is well as any shifts in perspective in your
golden.”) Discuss with students times in their illustrations.
lives when they spoke but were later sorry they
did. Ask them to write a story or poem in which a
character decides it would be better to remain
silent and the events that followed that decision.

Sofia T. Romero Cloud Nine 175

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