Nadira's Geometry Homework

"The figures jerk like dangling sticks on the page."
Page 40 of Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos

This quote definitely grabbed my attention when I was reading. I have noticed that Marina Budhos loves using similes. I've started to enjoy them because they create vivid pictures in my mind. I am looking forward to future similes or metaphors that Budhos will use. :)

I put the two things that stood out for me most in this quote in italics.
In this sentence Nadira/Budhos is referring to Nadira's Geometry homework. To me it perfectly describes what it feels like to be trying to do math homework, or a simple task, when everyone else around you is creating chaos.
At the point when the author uses this sentence Taslima and Auntie are quarrelling and Uncle and Abba are arguing about (by phone?) the fact that Abba wants to become a legal citizen of the U.S.A. (Uncle is against it)

The way Nadira/Budhos calls the Geometry figures "dangling sticks" really proves (I think) that Nadira can't stay focused. In the next sentence Nadira complains that she cannot focus like her sister. This is where I think she should not compare herself to Aisha, and get truckin' on that homework. :)