The climax of the novel happens in Chapter 9. Identify which pages it happens in and give a short quote that shows it.

The novel's climax in Chapter Nine is centered around Matt's visit to his mother's grave in the cemetery. He is also surprised to see the words “in loving memory” on her stone, thinking something like “LOL” would have been more appropriate for her (158), and he talks to her only for a moment before grief and anger overwhelm him. Matt notes that the flowers on her grave are dried and brittle, and he rants about the waste of buying flowers that are going to die, as he wrecks the brittle bouquet. He finally calms down and tells his mother he has met a girl. He then “felt too silly to say anything else” (160).

I bit down on my bottom lip and looked out at all the other tombstones. After a few seconds everything blurred into hills of gray. So many burials, and here I was wishing that I could bury a few things of my own. Bury the fact that I’m standing at my mother’s grave after she left me in the world to fend for myself. Bury the fact that my father is a drunk and now can’t even walk, so he can’t help me. Bury the fact that almost every kid in my school thinks I’m a damn crackpot. Bury the fact that I’m empty. Empty. Empty!