Untrustworthy (Metaphor)
No one was really surprised when the oven that “wouldn’t be able to take the constant abuse of being on morning and night, winter after winter” finally broke. They had to fix it as soon as possible, for cold started creeping in over the floor. Mrs. Chang called a man “recommended by one of the button-sewing ladies”. However, the man didn’t only fail to fix the oven, he also tried to charge them with ridiculously high price. Kimberley thought that the man had “wolf’s heart and a dog’s lungs”, which was a Chinese way to say that that a person was “untrustworthy and vicious”.
Full of life (Metaphor)
According to the initial plan, Mrs. Chang was supposed to work as a babysitter of a younger son of Aunt Paula. To Mrs. Chang's unpleasant surprise, Aunt Paula changed her mind. Kimberley’s mother said if it was due to the fact that the boy was difficult to handle, there was no reason to worry, for her Kimberley “was a monkey” too and she knew how to deal with disobedient and extremely active children.
Jealousy (Metaphor)
Aunt Paula wasn’t happy to find out that Kimberley - even living in a flat with no central heating, working after school daily, eating badly and dressing poorly - was doing more than just fine in school. One time, when Aunt Paula got angry about something again, Kimberley simply said that she was sorry that her achievements made her aunt’s “eyes see red”. In such a way, the girl wanted to show that she knew about her aunt’s jealousy, but wasn’t going to let it influence neither her nor her mother.
In awe (Simile)
When Kimberly meets an African-American woman for the first time, she is in awe, for she has never seen a person with a skin “as dark as coal”. Although she can’t take her eyes off of that person, she is strictly ordered not to stare.
Elite tea (Simile)
Aunt Paula only pretends to be hospitable. She offers them a tour around the house just to rub into her younger sister’s face how successful and happy she is. Aunt Paula is especially proud of refined tea she has in her house. She mentions that, “the leaves unfurl to become as long as your fingers”, which is supposed to indicate that tea is of high quality. Not to mention that Mrs. Chang is a professional music teacher, who plays piano and violin, which means that she has really long and slim fingers.
Mr. Bogart (Simile)
Mr. Bogart doesn’t seem to care about his appearance. He is more focused on bringing his pupils down. This earns him a bad reputation and causes a lot of problems. When Kimberley meets him for the very first time, she notices that the man is incredibly tall and as “bald as an egg”.
