" 'Did Mama sing every day?' asked Caleb. 'Every-single-day?' "
This is the opening line of the book, and it immediately tells you two things: That singing will be an important part of the book and that mothers will be part of the main theme. Caleb always wants to hear the story of how he was born, because his mother died the day after she gave birth to him. Anna, his older sister, is always the one to tell it to him. And one thing that Caleb always asks about is if his mother sang. She did and so when Sarah comes they hope that she too will be able to sing.
"We waited and watched. I rocked on the porch and Caleb rolled a marble on the wood floor. Back and forth. Back and forth. The marble was blue."
This is when Anna and Caleb are waiting on their front porch for their father to come home from picking up Sarah. From past correspondence through letters they know that Sarah lives by and loves the sea. She describes the sea's colors as gray, green, and blue. So when it says that the color of the marble is blue, it hints at the fact that Sarah is coming from the sea.
" 'There is no sea here. But the land rolls a little like the sea.' My father did not see her look, but I did. And I knew Caleb had seen it, too. Sarah was not smiling. Sarah was already lonely."
Sarah is lonely and misses the sea when she comes out to live with Jacob, Anna, and Caleb. She has lived her whole life in Maine, by the sea and the crashing salty waves and loves it, so when she comes to the prairie where there is only waving grasses she feels a longing for her home and the sea. She misses it and yearns for it, as shown through this quotation.
"I shook my head, turning the white stone over and over in my hand. I wished everything was as perfect as the stone. I wished that Papa and Caleb and I were perfect for Sarah. I wished we had a sea of our own."
While looking at and turning a smooth white stone in her hand, Anna wishes that Sarah liked it here and didn't miss the sea. Anna wants Sarah to stay but she doesn't think that she and her father and brother are right for Sarah. She wishes they could be perfect, like the smooth white stone she is rolling in her palm.
" 'Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu!' "
These are the lyrics that Sarah teaches all of them about summer coming. Because singing is an important part of the story, when Sarah teaches them all a song it gives them life and makes them happy. By singing they are also getting closer together because it is something they all enjoy and can connect with.
" 'There are always things to miss,' said Maggie. 'No matter where you are.' "
Sarah is dealing with the sorrow of missing her home and the sea, so their neighbor, Maggie consoles and gives Sarah advice. Maggie understands and has empathy for Sarah because she also came from a place far away and sometimes misses her past home. She tells Sarah that Sarah might always miss something.
" 'I will always miss my old home, but the truth of it is I would miss you more.' "
This shows that despite everything, all Sarah's loneliness and homesickness, she loves Jacob, Anna, and Caleb and doesn't want to leave them. She cares for them. She might always miss her old home and the sea but she realizes that she really loves her new family and wants to stay with them. She was able to overcome all her difficulties and challenges and loneliness so that she could stay with her new, loving family.
"It is late, and Caleb is nearly sleeping by his plate and Sarah is smiling at my father. Soon there will be a wedding."
As the other quote showed, Sarah overcame her loneliness and is now there to stay because she knows that she loves them and wants to stay with them and be their wife and mother. There will be a wedding.
"And there will be Sarah, plain and tall."
This is the closing of the book, which ties to the title, Sarah, Plain and Tall. The narrator, Anna is saying what will be during the next months to come and among the chickens, cows, sheep, wind, and flowers, Sarah will be there, because she has decided to stay.
