Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Our trio was invincible. We were like Harry, Ron, and, Hermione—but with far less wizarding. And cloaks. Though cloaks would be amazing.”

Aven’s comparison of her friendship with Connor and Zion to the friends in the Harry Potter series shows her quirky humor and illustrates how powerful her friendship with the two boys is. Although Aven has disagreements with both Connor and Zion over the course of the novel, she learns that true friends stand by each other no matter what, and are, essentially, family.

“I tried with all my might not to care. Seriously, it was like the might of a hundred bodybuilders.”

Although Aven has come a long way from the first book in building her self-esteem, and declares she is confident starting high school, she still battles feelings of insecurity when she worries about people staring at her in the cafeteria. Aven, though she accepts and has adapted to her disability, is self-conscious about her armlessness and how people judge her by it.

“Klingon is not a romance language! [...] And neither is Elvish! French and Italian are the romance languages. I’ll never be able to put Klingon and Elvish on my résumé!”

Zion gets frustrated at his parents for speaking Klingon, a made-up language used in the fictional Star Trek universe. Bowling highlights the disconnect between the fictional world, and Zion’s practical desire for a true, “real world” language. This quote illustrates a role reversal, making Zion’s parents seem childish and Zion the down-to-earth adult.