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Esteban
Holly is Haley’s best friend and Kira’s daughter. Outspoken and hyperactive, Holly is an energetic presence within the A-R-T-T room. She often gets into fights with Amari, who frequently needles her for being a “rich girl.” Out of the six A-R-T-T students, Holly is the only one who doesn’t record her story in any formal or complete capacity; her fight with Amari over her Christmas shoes results in her most vulnerable public moment, when she tells the group that she didn’t ask to be affluent. Bright and incisive, Holly alerts Haley to her own wealth and gives her a final push toward forgiving her father. It’s implied that she might have a burgeoning crush on Amari, who may like her back; this sends Haley into a brief panic at the thought of them together.
Holly Quotes in Harbor Me
The Harbor Me quotes below are all either spoken by Holly or refer to Holly. 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 10 Quotes
Amari held up the piece of paper and aimed it at Holly. Pow. Mind your business. Now, those are words to go with my picture.
I’m going to tell Ms. Laverne you’re up in here threatening people, Holly said.
Amari looked sadder than anything for a minute, like if someone touched his shoulder, he’d start to cry.
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Chapter 21 Quotes
I never even thought about my color till that day…
Lucky you, Holly said.
How’s that lucky?
Because every single body in this room except you had to think about themselves that way already. Like, way before now. The way you felt like you were on the outside of everything? Like you weren’t a part of it? Well, that’s the way a whole lot of people feel every day.
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Chapter 31 Quotes
Dash to dash, my uncle would say. Holly to Amari. Me to Holly. Perrito to Tiago. Esteban to his father. Amari to Ashton. Ms. Laverne to all of us. My uncle said that when people come together and they all care about the same things, it’s called a Harmonic Convergence. He said all that energy together can shift a whole planet.
The sleeting stopped. The sun came out.
We good? Amari asked.
And Holly said, Yeah, Amari. We’re good.
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Chapter 36 Quotes
I thought about my dad. There was a room in my brain where I was mad at him. Some days I opened that door and it made me so sad that I just sat for hours staring off at nothing. Those were the days Ms. Laverne and my uncle and even Holly left me alone. Those were the days filled with gray light and cold, damp air. That was the room where I realized I couldn’t forgive him.
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Chapter 37 Quotes
But until I saw Amari’s drawing, I hadn’t really thought about my hair. The power is both my mom and dad running through it, through me. And their moms and dads. And theirs. The a and b of me. The c and d, as Holly said. I smiled. My mother was gone, but she was continuing too. Inside of me. And that was its own superpower.
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Get the entire Harbor Me LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Holly Character Timeline in Harbor Me
The timeline below shows where the character Holly appears in Harbor Me. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...Ms. Laverne, her teacher, had compared her and five other students—Esteban, Tiago, Ashton, Amari, and Holly—to the tree in the story.
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...him. Haley thinks about how she will soon start seventh grade with her best friend Holly, but how the other four students will be missing. Haley continues to replay the first...
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Chapter 3
...When lunch time comes, he stays in the classroom with Ms. Laverne while Haley and Holly leave and Amari tries to ask him what’s happening.
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Chapter 4
...like his father. After the test, Ms. Laverne asks the class to come with her. Holly and Haley are both wearing patterned tights, and when they stand next to each other,...
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Chapter 9
...be trying to remember the group and tests out the recorder by rapping into it. Holly grabs it and adds that the recorder is for stories as well as memories. Haley...
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Chapter 10
...have his father with them. Esteban hands Haley back the recorder, and she hugs him. Holly comments on how vivid Esteban’s story was, which makes him smile. Amari tells Esteban that...
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Chapter 11
...freedom in America, citing the control of teachers and grown-ups over children as an example. Holly argues with him, pointing out that they have more freedom than Black people did “before,”...
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...paper. She asks him why he’s drawing them, and he deflects and covers his paper. Holly pushes him to answer, and Esteban cuts in, pointing out that they’re only pictures and...
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Chapter 14
...tired. Amari asks Haley for the recorder and starts rapping into it again. Amari and Holly banter back and forth about Amari’s voice changing until Ashton breaks the tension, telling them...
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Chapter 16
...his father said, “we’re suspects from the day we’re born.” Both of them are angry. Holly and Tiago chime in with more stories of Black and Puerto Rican kids being abused...
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Chapter 18
Holly’s mother, Kira, picks Holly and Haley up from school for a sleepover. Out the window...
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...had tried to learn how to style her hair without much success. After Haley and Holly became friends, Kira approached Haley’s uncle and offered to help with her hair. Ever since,...
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Chapter 21
...Black or Brown, and he began to feel singled out and self-conscious of his whiteness. Holly explains that everyone else in the A-R-T-T room has already felt that way for most...
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Ashton accepts this, even though he didn’t ask for it, and Holly points out that they all still have something in common and can form their own...
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Chapter 27
...for him to be gone when he was at the center of their group, and Holly agrees, citing that they live in “the land of the free and the home of...
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Chapter 31
After Christmas, Ashton compliments Holly’s expensive new sneakers, which his own family couldn’t afford to get for him. He comments...
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Holly defends herself, saying that it’s not her fault that her parents are rich. Tiago urges...
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Chapter 32
That night, Haley and Holly sit on Holly’s bed and play with dolls. Holly asks Haley if she plans to...
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Holly says that she thinks that life sometimes gives you things you don’t want, but you...
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Chapter 34
Haley tells the group about the first time she went to Kira and Holly’s house for Kira to braid her hair. Although she’s nervous, she tells the story of...
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Chapter 36
As Haley and Holly wait for Kira to pick them up, Holly asks Haley what superpower she would want....
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Chapter 39
...time to say goodbye before the end of the school year. Next year, Haley and Holly will be in seventh grade, so they won’t be in the same age group as...
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