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Which quotes from “Raymond's Run” by Toni Cade Bambara show that Squeaky isn’t afraid to stand up for herself?

Squeaky stands up for herself.  She is a tough little girl, and she has to be because her brother has developmental delays and kids often make fun of him.  Squeaky always stands up for him, and for herself, when people tease them.


Squeaky says that if anyone wants to mess with Raymond, they have to come through her.



And I don’t play the dozens or believe in standing around with somebody in my face doing a lot of talking. I much rather just knock you down and take my chances even if I am a little girl with skinny arms and a squeaky voice, which is how I got the name Squeaky.



She says that if things get to be too much for her, she runs.  Squeaky is a very good runner.  She loves to race, and she practices all of the time.  Even though her mother thinks it looks silly, Squeaky trains.  She is the fastest runner in the neighborhood.


Squeaky doesn’t just stick up for her brother; she also sticks up for herself.  When Gretchen and her friends suggest that Squeaky is not going to win the May Day race, she doesn’t let them get to her.  She stands her ground.



“I always win cause I’m the best,” I say straight at Gretchen who is, as far as I’m concerned, the only one talking in this ventrilo-quist-dummy routine. Gretchen smiles, but it’s not a smile, and I’m thinking that girls never really smile at each other because they don’t know how and don’t want to know how …”



Although she has some trouble making friends because she doesn’t believe people are genuine, Squeaky has a different reaction at the race.  Gretchen comes in second, and it turns out that the new girl really can run.  The two girls smile at each other, for real this time.  Squeaky is thrilled, because she thinks she has made a new friend.

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