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Mai
Quang-ha is Mai’s brother and Pattie’s son. He seems to dislike Willow at first, particularly after she comes to live with his family, but he soon reveals that he is not as disagreeable as he first seems. Similarly, Quang-ha seems at first to be a bad student with no interest in school, but it only takes a little bit of encouragement and tutoring from Willow in order for him to turn his grades around. Quang-ha shows a particular talent for drawing. His evolution over the course of the story shows how positive reinforcement can help people to grow.
Quang-ha Quotes in Counting by 7s
The Counting by 7s quotes below are all either spoken by Quang-ha or refer to Quang-ha. 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:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
We sit together outside the Fosters Freeze at a sea-green, metal picnic table.
All four of us.
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Chapter 5 Quotes
It only took him three months on the job to get the Dell Duke Counseling System in shape.
He placed all of the kids he saw into four groups of THE STRANGE.
First, there were the MISFITS.
Then the ODDBALLS.
Next were the LONE WOLVES.
And finally, the WEIRDOS.
Of course, Dell wasn’t supposed to give the kids any kind of classifications, but what good is an organizing system without methods of separation?
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Chapter 9 Quotes
Quang-ha was a troublemaker.
Mai was not.
She was determined and deliberate in everything she did, and that quality attracted people to her.
Mai had true confidence. Or as she liked to see herself, she was born strong-willed, while a lot of the world was wishy-washy.
Adults didn’t intimidate her, and neither did strangers of any age.
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Chapter 28 Quotes
Decisions are made.
I will officially be turned over to my old family friends: the Nguyens.
Temporarily. Just for now.
Is there anything anymore but Now? There was Then. But that world was blown up in an intersection.
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Chapter 34 Quotes
Standing over the skylight, I see that three glass pieces have caught the sun. They send small spots of color down into the room below.
I glance over at Quang-ha. He sees it too. I say:
“It’s like a stained-glass window.”
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Chapter 43 Quotes
He’s being moved out of his English class and put into some kind of Honors/AP program.
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Chapter 48 Quotes
Therefore, Mr. Duke, in addition to granting you permission to plant a garden in the central, uncovered atrium, we have made the decision to ask you to be the Building Representative for the Gardens of Glenwood.
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Quang-ha Character Timeline in Counting by 7s
The timeline below shows where the character Quang-ha appears in Counting by 7s. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...but Vietnamese isn’t Willow’s first language. The girls are at the ice cream place with Quang-ha (Mai’s older brother) and Dell Duke, a school counselor who brought them there. Willow called...
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Chapter 9
...School, on the other side of Bakersfield, the town where Willow lives. Her brother, Nguyen Quang-ha, is a year older and often gets in trouble, but Mai never does. Mai believes...
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Quang-ha is one of Dell’s cases, and Dell has Quang-ha work on a coloring book. In...
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Chapter 10
...showing off the cat, Cheddar jumps off his desk and runs away. Dell, Mai, and Quang-ha all go looking for the cat. Eventually, they have to give up, and Dell drives...
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Chapter 11
...that he must not be a natural at his job. Dell drops off Mai and Quang-ha, then on his drive home, he notices his cat, Cheddar, sitting on a dumpster. He...
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Chapter 16
Mai convinces Dell to take her, Willow, and Quang-ha to Fosters Freeze. This all leads back to the events that happened when the story...
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Chapter 18
...after the crash, he could get in trouble for the ice cream trip. Mai and Quang-ha leave the car, and Dell is alone with Willow. He tries to cheer her up...
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Chapter 19
...notices an unfamiliar car pulling up, followed by a police car. She sees her children Quang-ha and Mai coming out of the first car. Mai passionately explains the situation, and Pattie...
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Chapter 21
Quang-ha is mad about Willow living with his family. He felt a little sorry for her...
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Chapter 29
...Willow when she can. Ultimately, Pattie is the one who’s there most often. Willow thinks Quang-ha must hate her. After about a month, Willow still feels like a shadow of her...
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Chapter 33
Meanwhile, Quang-ha is surprised to find Dell coming to pick him up. Dell explains how they have...
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Chapter 34
...to the laundry room for her and Pattie to wash all the dirty laundry. When Quang-ha gets back, Pattie asks him and Willow to go on the roof and remove the...
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When Quang-ha is going to the roof to take off the tarp, he drops some glass bottles...
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Chapter 36
...comes to visit at Dell’s apartment, where Pattie is pretending to live with Willow and Quang-ha. She doesn’t stay long, which makes Willow think they must have passed the test. When...
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Chapter 38
...he never read the manual and didn’t bother to set it up correctly. Mai and Quang-ha each seem happy about the new arrangements, where they all have more room than in...
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Three days into the new arrangement, Willow sees an avocado pit that Quang-ha left out. She imagines what would happen if someone tried to grow it. She doesn’t...
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Chapter 39
It’s the weekend. While Quang-ha is watching television in the living room and Willow is with him, Dell comes knocking...
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Chapter 43
...again, now that her life is returning to a sort of routine. Sometimes, she helps Quang-ha by doing his math homework, and she pretends to take longer than she needs to...
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...admits that he’s out of shape. That weekend, Willow writes a Mark Twain essay for Quang-ha. He deletes part of it and deliberately misspells several words. But soon after, he gets...
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Chapter 45
Willow’s sunflowers start coming up. Dell and Mai are both excited. Quang-ha tries not to look excited, even though he seems happy that the one seed he...
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...up athletic shoes for Willow at Salvation Army. Meanwhile, Willow has gone from just doing Quang-ha’s work to actually teaching some of it to him, and his biology grades have improved.
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Chapter 48
...garden plan in motion. She wonders how to get rid of all the rocks until Quang-ha, who’s been reading Tom Sawyer, suggests that people always like free things. She makes a...
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Chapter 49
...rototiller and pick up a power sprayer. The power sprayer is indeed powerful, and even Quang-ha is intrigued enough to want to try it.
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Chapter 52
...in a basket of wet towels to replant. When Willow mentions what she’s doing to Quang-ha, he suggests that she’d have an easier time if she just stole plant materials from...
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Chapter 53
...then comes over to help with planting some new plants later. By the end, even Quang-ha is impressed with how the new garden looks.
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Chapter 56
...nail salon early to go back to Dell’s place. When she gets back, Mai and Quang-ha seem to already know about Willow leaving soon. Quang-ha gets angry at Pattie for not...
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Chapter 57
...everyone. She gets sad when she sees Cheddar in the window. Willow worries about how Quang-ha, Pattie, and Dell will all get along without her.
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Chapter 61
...including the seven people who have changed her life: her mom, her dad, Mai, Dell, Quang-ha, Pattie, and Jairo.
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