All American Boys: Thursday–Friday

by Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely
This novel by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely tells the story of Rashad and Quinn, two teenagers whose lives are changed after an incident of police brutality divides their community.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Friday–Saturday, Sunday–Monday, Tuesday–Wednesday, Thursday–Friday

Here are links to our lists for other books by Jason Reynolds: When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, Long Way Down, Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu
15 words 2038 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. chaotic
    completely unordered and unpredictable and confusing
    At basketball practice, though, he couldn’t avoid me anymore. He showed up late, just as Coach blew his whistle and a chaotic warm-up came to an end.
  2. hustle
    busy or energetic activity
    We hit the floor, and what might have looked like good hustle was actually just us ripping at each other more than the ball itself, elbowing each other, until finally, the ball rolled away and the two of us wrestled on the floor.
  3. immune
    not affected by a given influence
    “You can’t play two against one on me. I’m immune. I’m your mother.”
  4. accusatory
    containing or expressing blame
    “After Coach Carney called, I called Rita. Guzzo told her why the two of you got into a fight.” She sat back, folding her arms across her chest, accusatory.
  5. invoke
    cite as an authority
    She paused, and then added, “What would your father say if he were here?”
    She never invoked Dad.
  6. scour
    examine minutely
    But more importantly, I needed my computer, so that I could scour the Internet to try to catch up on my own life.
  7. allegiance
    the act of binding yourself to a course of action
    If I thought my sudden allegiance to honesty would make me feel confident, I was wrong.
  8. conviction
    an unshakable belief in something without need for proof
    I mean, it was one thing to have a conviction, but to be beaten up or killed for it—was it worth it?
  9. mantra
    a commonly repeated word or phrase
    I was marching.
    I repeated it to myself like a mantra. I was marching.
  10. brutality
    the trait of extreme cruelty
    But as the march began, and we trudged forward, shouting along with the people around us, “Springfield P-D, we don’t want brutality!” I just wanted to see Rashad, the kid who went to school with me.
  11. obscure
    make unclear or less visible
    As I listened, I looked up into what should have been the dark, autumnal evening sky, but instead the haze of flashing police lights, streetlamps, giant spotlights, the headlights of cars, the kaleidoscopic reflection off the cold concrete and glass of Police Plaza 1, all obscured the sky.
  12. compassion
    a deep awareness of and sympathy for another's suffering
    Had our hearts really become so numb that we needed dead bodies in order to feel the beat of compassion in our chests?
  13. looter
    someone who steals, as during a war or riot
    The words “riot” and “looters” were being thrown into the conversation too, my picture next to Galluzzo’s flashing across the screen, the footage of the arrest, looping.
  14. prejudice
    a partiality preventing objective consideration of an issue
    But until we have an honest conversation about prejudice and abuse of power in law enforcement, it won’t stop, and, Unless you’ve been a police officer, there’s no way to know how difficult a job it is.
  15. perplexed
    full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
    The die-in was beginning, and like dominoes, the crowd began to drop, each person, young and old, lying flat on the dirty pavement, the police officers all around us in riot gear, their hands on their weapons, afraid and perplexed.
Created on Wed Jul 19 17:52:05 EDT 2017 (updated Fri Jul 25 16:59:05 EDT 2025)

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