"One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia, List 4

In the summer of 1968, three sisters travel to California to visit their estranged mother. While there, they learn about the fight for equality and civil rights.

This list covers "Breakfast Program"–"Crazy Mother Mountain."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5, List 6, List 7, List 8, List 9, List 10

Here are links to our lists for other other books by Rita Williams-Garcia: P.S. Be Eleven, Gone Crazy in Alabama, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
28 words 78 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. soldier
    an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army
    There were older teens in mostly black clothes and Afros posted like soldiers guarding the outside.
  2. lanky
    tall and thin
    She had picked out three girls who looked alike enough to be sisters, each one as thick as my sisters and I were lanky.
  3. examine
    observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect
    He took out a sheet from a stack of paper—a flyer with a crouching black panther and some writing on it—and held it up to examine it.
  4. steer
    direct somewhere
    Vonetta tried to steer me over to them, but I didn’t want to go chasing after them.
  5. recognize
    perceive to be something or something you can identify
    I recognized the beakish nose on that narrow face.
  6. narrow
    not wide
    I recognized the beakish nose on that narrow face.
  7. humiliation
    strong feelings of embarrassment
    Beak Man tried to stand up to his humiliation.
  8. refrain
    resist doing something
    Fern hugged Miss Patty Cake but refrained from putting a piece of toast to her doll’s lips like she would have done at home.
  9. claim
    demand as being one's due or property
    If Sister Mukumbu had met us at the airport, we would have felt welcomed as she stepped forward to claim us.
  10. forgiveness
    compassionate feelings of mercy
    She would have wrapped us up in her green, purple, and orange African print dress and begged our forgiveness for having left us.
  11. beckon
    summon with a wave, nod, or some other gesture
    She beckoned him to her side, her many bracelets jangling as she waved him forward.
  12. demonstration
    a visual presentation showing how something works
    “Hirohito will help with my demonstration.”
  13. envious
    painfully desirous of another's advantages
    It was just like Vonetta to be envious of someone else being in the spotlight.
  14. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    He pushed his chair backward, scraping the floor, and went sullenly up to the front.
  15. constant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    “The earth turns slowly on its axis, while also spinning around the sun....Does anyone know another word for the earth’s constant spinning?”
  16. orbit
    the path of a celestial body in its revolution about another
    Thanks to my time spent with Merriam Webster, I had a few words in mind. Rotating. Orbiting. Turning. Circling.
  17. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    Not as silly as Hirohito spinning around but too old to wave my hand frantically as all the younger kids around me were doing.
  18. revolutionary
    a radical supporter of political or social change
    Sister Pat said, “Huey Newton is a revolutionary. Huey makes change.”
  19. determined
    devoting full strength and concentrated attention to
    I kicked her under the table, but she was determined to have everyone look at her, which meant have everyone look at us.
  20. chuckle
    a soft partly suppressed laugh
    Even Sister Mukumbu, caught off guard by Vonetta’s and Fern’s outbursts, allowed herself a chuckle.
  21. utter
    express in speech
    Fern wouldn’t have uttered a word if Vonetta hadn’t raised her hand to speak.
  22. curiosity
    a state in which you want to learn more about something
    No use letting my curiosity go itching.
  23. ancestor
    someone from whom you are descended
    In the land of our ancestors.
  24. baffled
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    Cecile knew she had us baffled and took control of the talk like she had grabbed both the ball and the jacks.
  25. kin
    group of people related by blood or marriage
    "The feds hire midgets to front as kids. They infiltrate families with long-lost cousins who don’t look a thing like you, but you take them in because that’s how colored folks do; and before you can say “Way down home,” your long-lost kin are documenting your every move for their weekly secret meetings with the Man."
  26. document
    record in detail
    "The feds hire midgets to front as kids. They infiltrate families with long-lost cousins who don’t look a thing like you, but you take them in because that’s how colored folks do; and before you can say “Way down home,” your long-lost kin are documenting your every move for their weekly secret meetings with the Man."
  27. treason
    a crime that undermines the offender's government
    Kids younger than that Little Girl turn their mother and father over to the Reds for treason and reeducation.
  28. grunt
    issue a low, animal-like noise
    To that she only grunted, like “That’s what you think.”
Created on 二月 27, 2013 (updated 二月 28, 2019)

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