Goodbye Stranger: Part Three

by Rebecca Stead
Bridge, Emily, and Tab are best friends who make a promise never to fight – but when seventh grade arrives, keeping their promise is more difficult than they expected.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four

Here are links to our lists for other works by Rebecca Stead: When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy
24 words 23 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. lopsided
    having one side lower or smaller or lighter than the other
    He made it into a face with two pointy, lopsided ears on top, using blueberries for eyes.
  2. shudder
    tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
    Scrolling through her texts, Em pretended to shudder.
  3. momentum
    an impelling force or strength
    “You’re messing with my momentum. This is the part where I crush you.”
  4. scornful
    expressing extreme contempt
    When the Talentine show audition notices were passed out, Em had been scornful.
  5. gawk
    look with amazement
    “No gawking!”
  6. flourish
    a showy gesture
    She had two green apples in each hand, which she raised above her head with a flourish.
  7. mangle
    alter so as to make unrecognizable
    “It’s supposed to be funny because, like, people misunderstand what’s being whispered, and then they say what they thought they heard, and the message gets all mangled.”
  8. figurine
    a small carved or molded figure
    On the counter near the muffins is a small plastic figurine, a boy with a pointy hat, purple pants, and a big swoop of yellow hair.
  9. steadily
    at a continuous rate or pace
    The yawn was real: Em had texted Bridge and Tab steadily until one-thirty in the morning.
  10. shrill
    having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
    The bell rang, long and shrill.
  11. jumble
    be all mixed up together
    He ducked her, jumped up, and went to his bed, where he grabbed a small navy-blue blanket that was jumbled up with his stuffed animals.
  12. swivel
    turn on a pivot
    Bridge asked, swiveling to face Em.
  13. deliberate
    carefully thought out in advance
    “A hamburger is more deliberate. You have to make it, or ask for it.... Music just kind of breaks over you.”
  14. frantic
    marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion
    That night, Bridge woke with a shudder and a frantic intake of air.
  15. paralysis
    loss of the ability to move a body part
    Once the dream receded—the feeling of paralysis, the suffocating closeness of it—her body relaxed, and her mom came closer.
  16. dwell
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    No one had ever talked to you like that before, but you don’t dwell on it now—you don’t think about how good it made you feel to have another person say “I like you. I trust you.”
  17. vaguely
    in an unclear way
    A vaguely familiar kid with sunglasses and a smirk on his face is hovering near the cash register.
  18. repel
    cause to move back by force or influence
    That and your supposed love are two supermagnets that repel each other.
  19. psychedelic
    having vivid colors and bizarre patterns
    “I went to the show back when Celeste was in it, and they did this crazy psychedelic ghost-town cowboy theme: rainbows, tumbleweeds, and a gigantic papier-mache ... um, I think it was a horse, but it might have been a unicorn.”
  20. telepathic
    communicating without apparent physical signals
    You tried to send Gina a telepathic message: Just make something up.
  21. sympathetic
    expressing compassion or friendly fellow feelings
    “That’s not how it works,” Vinny said, sounding genuinely sympathetic.
  22. nominate
    propose as a candidate for some honor
    “Why’d you nominate the moon landing?”
  23. broadcast
    a radio or television show
    Bridge and her parents were on the couch, watching the annual network broadcast of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
  24. enormous
    extraordinarily large in size or extent or degree
    when they heard the front door slam and the now-familiar sound of Jamie’s enormous steps.
Created on Tue Jul 12 15:02:50 EDT 2016 (updated Mon Sep 24 13:37:07 EDT 2018)

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