American Street

by

Ibi Zoboi

Manman is Fabiola’s mother and Matant Jo’s younger sister. She never directly appears in the novel, because just before the story begins, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in New York detain her and refuse to let her enter the country. Later, Detective Stevens reveals that Manman was detained because she overstayed her visa the last time she was in the United States, at the time of Fabiola’s birth. After Fabiola’s birth in Detroit, Manman took baby Fabiola back to Haiti to raise her. Fabiola and Manman are extremely close, so Manman’s detainment is a devastating blow for Fabiola. Manman is a very strict mother, and Fabiola often hopes that the questionable or sexual behavior she sometimes engages in in Detroit will somehow make Manman angry enough to escape the detention facility. Manman was also a renowned mamboVodou priestess—in Haiti. She led Fabiola through daily prayers to the lwas (Vodou spirits) and taught her how to properly ask for help and interpret the lwas’ signs. Fabiola uses everything Manman taught her about Vodou and prayer to follow in her footsteps and become a budding mambo once she’s on her own in Detroit. Manman always tried to foster a close relationship with Fabiola, possibly because Manman didn’t have any other family around in Haiti. Their closeness is what leads Fabiola to agree to work with Detective Stevens, a local officer who’s investigating the drug-related death of a young woman. In exchange for Fabiola’s help, Detective Stevens promises to expedite Manman’s processing and get her a green card. Though this plan doesn’t go the way Fabiola thought it would, it pays off for Manman: she’ll be released from the detention facility into the U.S. on the evening the novel ends.

Manman/Valerie Toussaint Quotes in American Street

The American Street quotes below are all either spoken by Manman/Valerie Toussaint or refer to Manman/Valerie Toussaint. 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:
Dignity and the American Dream Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

And then tomorrow, she will come to this side of the glass, where this good work that will make her hold her head up with dignity, where she will be proud to send me to school for free, and where we will build a good, brand-new life. Une belle vie, as she always promises, hoping that here she would be free to take her sister’s hand and touch the moon.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Matant Jo François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

The living room of this house, my new home, is a sea of beige leather. The furniture crowds the small space as if every inch of it is meant for sitting. I’ve seen bigger salons in the mansions atop the hills of Petionville, even fancier furniture and wider flat-screen TVs. But none of that belonged to me and my mother; none of the owners were family. Here, I can sit on the leather couches for as long as I want and watch all the movies in the world as if I’m in the cinema.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Chantal François, Matant Jo François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 19
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

She stares at the magic things for a while without touching them before she asks, “Does it work?”

“Well,” I say. “Has anyone ever tried to kill you?” I have to speak loudly over the music.

Pri turns around and closes the bedroom door, muting the music a bit.

“Kill me? Ain’t nobody rolling up in this house to kill anyone.”

“I know. We made it so. Me and my mother. Every day we asked the lwas to protect our family in Detroit and their house,” I say, adjusting my bra.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Pri/Princess François (speaker), Donna/Primadonna François, Chantal François, Matant Jo François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:

Cher Manman,

I see you clearer now because I light my candle and pour the libation, rattle the asson, and ring the bell to call all my guides, the lwas. You’ve told me that they are here for me. All I have to do is call on them so they can help me. I believe you, Manman. Even without you being here to hold ceremonies with drummers and singers and a village of followers, I will practice all that you’ve taught me.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 63
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

I look all around the restaurant. “But this is your job,” I say.

She inhales and looks around, too. “Yes, it is. But our work is not without the help of good American citizens like yourself. You are an American citizen, right?”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Detective Shawna Stevens (speaker), Donna/Primadonna François, Dray, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“But I ain’t no kingpin, know what I’m saying? So it’s just favors here and there. Shit you do for fam.”

A cold chill travels up my spine. Shit you do for fam. The way he says it, it’s like he would do anything for his family, like for love and respect. I say it out loud. “Shit you do for fam.” I turn to him.

“Shit you do for fam,” he repeats.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Kasim (speaker), Dray, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“On American Street, I will live with my aunt Jo and my cousins, and go to school, and have a cute boyfriend, and keep my mouth shut because in Haiti I learned not to shake hands with the devil. But on Joy Road, I will tell the truth. The truth will lead to my happiness, and I will drive long and far without anything in my way, like the path to New Jersey, to my mother, to her freedom, to my joy. Which road should I take, Papa Legba?”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Kasim, Dray, Bad Leg/Papa Legba, Manman/Valerie Toussaint, Detective Shawna Stevens
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

But I don’t want to look like a church lady. I still want to look...good. So I take off my mother’s church dress and put on a plain sweatshirt that belongs to Chantal and a pair of new jeans. I wear the Air Jordans that Pri picked out for me, but I keep my hairstyle. Now I don’t look so...Haitian. So immigrant.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Pri/Princess François, Donna/Primadonna François, Chantal François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint, Ezili/Ezili-Danto
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“You did well in Haiti with my money. You think I was going to let my sister rot in the countryside with a new baby in her hands?”

“We prayed for you. When I was a young girl and I couldn’t even understand anything, I knew that it was my job to pray for my aunt and cousins because it was the only reason my papers said that I am American. We were grateful for that, not just for the money.”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Matant Jo François (speaker), Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 165
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

“Catholic school for all three of us out here was just pennies. But your ass over there in Haiti cost her like twenty Gs every year. Your school, money for your mom, your clothes. Hell, all this time, Ma thought y’all were building a mansion near the beach and she swore she’d go back down there to retire.

“But she’s getting sick. We don’t want her to do this loan-sharking shit anymore. Money was running out. We still gotta live, Fab. We still gotta breathe. Money’s just room to breathe, that’s all.”

Related Characters: Chantal François (speaker), Fabiola Toussaint, Matant Jo François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 212
Explanation and Analysis:

I used to stare at that address whenever those white envelopes with the blue-and-red-striped edges would make their way to our little house in Port-au-Prince. I’d copy the address over and over again, 8800 American Street, because this house was my very first home. But for three short months only. This house is where I became American. This house is the one my mother and I prayed for every night, every morning, and during every ceremony: 8800 American Street.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 214
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32 Quotes

We are all in white. Even Pri has shed her dark clothes and now wears a white turtleneck and pants. I had wrapped my cousins and aunt in white sheets after making a healing bath of herbs and Florida water for each one, and let them curl into themselves and cry and cry. This is what Manman had done for our neighbors who survived the big earthquake. The bath is like a baptism, and if black is the color of mourning, then white is the color of rebirth and new beginnings.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Kasim, Pri/Princess François, Donna/Primadonna François, Matant Jo François, Dray, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 321
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire American Street LitChart as a printable PDF.
American Street PDF

Manman/Valerie Toussaint Quotes in American Street

The American Street quotes below are all either spoken by Manman/Valerie Toussaint or refer to Manman/Valerie Toussaint. 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:
Dignity and the American Dream Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

And then tomorrow, she will come to this side of the glass, where this good work that will make her hold her head up with dignity, where she will be proud to send me to school for free, and where we will build a good, brand-new life. Une belle vie, as she always promises, hoping that here she would be free to take her sister’s hand and touch the moon.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Matant Jo François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

The living room of this house, my new home, is a sea of beige leather. The furniture crowds the small space as if every inch of it is meant for sitting. I’ve seen bigger salons in the mansions atop the hills of Petionville, even fancier furniture and wider flat-screen TVs. But none of that belonged to me and my mother; none of the owners were family. Here, I can sit on the leather couches for as long as I want and watch all the movies in the world as if I’m in the cinema.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Chantal François, Matant Jo François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 19
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

She stares at the magic things for a while without touching them before she asks, “Does it work?”

“Well,” I say. “Has anyone ever tried to kill you?” I have to speak loudly over the music.

Pri turns around and closes the bedroom door, muting the music a bit.

“Kill me? Ain’t nobody rolling up in this house to kill anyone.”

“I know. We made it so. Me and my mother. Every day we asked the lwas to protect our family in Detroit and their house,” I say, adjusting my bra.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Pri/Princess François (speaker), Donna/Primadonna François, Chantal François, Matant Jo François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:

Cher Manman,

I see you clearer now because I light my candle and pour the libation, rattle the asson, and ring the bell to call all my guides, the lwas. You’ve told me that they are here for me. All I have to do is call on them so they can help me. I believe you, Manman. Even without you being here to hold ceremonies with drummers and singers and a village of followers, I will practice all that you’ve taught me.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 63
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

I look all around the restaurant. “But this is your job,” I say.

She inhales and looks around, too. “Yes, it is. But our work is not without the help of good American citizens like yourself. You are an American citizen, right?”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Detective Shawna Stevens (speaker), Donna/Primadonna François, Dray, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“But I ain’t no kingpin, know what I’m saying? So it’s just favors here and there. Shit you do for fam.”

A cold chill travels up my spine. Shit you do for fam. The way he says it, it’s like he would do anything for his family, like for love and respect. I say it out loud. “Shit you do for fam.” I turn to him.

“Shit you do for fam,” he repeats.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Kasim (speaker), Dray, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“On American Street, I will live with my aunt Jo and my cousins, and go to school, and have a cute boyfriend, and keep my mouth shut because in Haiti I learned not to shake hands with the devil. But on Joy Road, I will tell the truth. The truth will lead to my happiness, and I will drive long and far without anything in my way, like the path to New Jersey, to my mother, to her freedom, to my joy. Which road should I take, Papa Legba?”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Kasim, Dray, Bad Leg/Papa Legba, Manman/Valerie Toussaint, Detective Shawna Stevens
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

But I don’t want to look like a church lady. I still want to look...good. So I take off my mother’s church dress and put on a plain sweatshirt that belongs to Chantal and a pair of new jeans. I wear the Air Jordans that Pri picked out for me, but I keep my hairstyle. Now I don’t look so...Haitian. So immigrant.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Pri/Princess François, Donna/Primadonna François, Chantal François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint, Ezili/Ezili-Danto
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“You did well in Haiti with my money. You think I was going to let my sister rot in the countryside with a new baby in her hands?”

“We prayed for you. When I was a young girl and I couldn’t even understand anything, I knew that it was my job to pray for my aunt and cousins because it was the only reason my papers said that I am American. We were grateful for that, not just for the money.”

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Matant Jo François (speaker), Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 165
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

“Catholic school for all three of us out here was just pennies. But your ass over there in Haiti cost her like twenty Gs every year. Your school, money for your mom, your clothes. Hell, all this time, Ma thought y’all were building a mansion near the beach and she swore she’d go back down there to retire.

“But she’s getting sick. We don’t want her to do this loan-sharking shit anymore. Money was running out. We still gotta live, Fab. We still gotta breathe. Money’s just room to breathe, that’s all.”

Related Characters: Chantal François (speaker), Fabiola Toussaint, Matant Jo François, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 212
Explanation and Analysis:

I used to stare at that address whenever those white envelopes with the blue-and-red-striped edges would make their way to our little house in Port-au-Prince. I’d copy the address over and over again, 8800 American Street, because this house was my very first home. But for three short months only. This house is where I became American. This house is the one my mother and I prayed for every night, every morning, and during every ceremony: 8800 American Street.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Related Symbols: The House at 8800 American Street
Page Number: 214
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32 Quotes

We are all in white. Even Pri has shed her dark clothes and now wears a white turtleneck and pants. I had wrapped my cousins and aunt in white sheets after making a healing bath of herbs and Florida water for each one, and let them curl into themselves and cry and cry. This is what Manman had done for our neighbors who survived the big earthquake. The bath is like a baptism, and if black is the color of mourning, then white is the color of rebirth and new beginnings.

Related Characters: Fabiola Toussaint (speaker), Kasim, Pri/Princess François, Donna/Primadonna François, Matant Jo François, Dray, Manman/Valerie Toussaint
Page Number: 321
Explanation and Analysis: