The Lions of Little Rock: Chapters 24-34

by Kristin Levine
Set in Arkansas in 1958, this novel tells the story of two courageous twelve-year-old girls who fight against segregation in their community.

Here are links to our list for the novel: Chapters 1-12, Chapters 13-23, Chapters 24-34, Chapters 35-45, Chapters 46-57
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. squabble
    argue over petty things
    Liz pulled his mane, and they started squabbling, and I missed Judy and David so much, I could almost imagine they were there, taking me trick-or-treating, like they’d done when I was little.
  2. loom
    hang over, as of something threatening, dark, or menacing
    Red loomed over both JT and me in the darkness between the streetlights.
  3. flirt
    talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
    “He was a young Negro boy who went down to visit some relatives in Mississippi. One day someone saw him talking, some say flirting, with a white woman.”
  4. injunction
    a judicial remedy to prohibit a party from doing something
    Their schools were integrated that year, and the group helped get injunctions filed against protestors who were trying to disrupt the process.
  5. stationery
    paper cut to an appropriate size for writing letters
    When my parents had finally gone to bed, I got up and copied the quote from Peter onto a pretty piece of pink stationery.
  6. rummage
    search haphazardly
    “We’ll do the nines then,” I said, rummaging in my purse for a pen.
  7. founder
    a person who establishes some institution
    She was one of the founders of the WEC.
  8. hunch
    round one's back by bending forward
    A woman sitting hunched over in a back corner caught my eye.
  9. adjourn
    close at the end of a session
    The meeting adjourned a few minutes later and Mrs. Terry invited everyone to have some refreshments before they left.
  10. idealism
    belief that the best possible concepts should be pursued
    I tagged along, but I should have known she didn’t really need any help, because as soon as we reached the kitchen, Mrs. Brewer said, “Miss Winthrop, I appreciate your idealism, but admitting Negro women to our group would be the end of the WEC.”
  11. petition
    a formal request that something be submitted to an authority
    “I know.” All the fizz was suddenly gone from Miss Winthrop. “Call me about the petitions?”
    Mrs. Brewer nodded.
  12. clench
    squeeze together tightly
    “I understand,” said Mrs. Terry, though her teeth were clenched.
  13. uppity
    arrogant or self-important
    Shirley started talking to Janet about how other folks were going to pay for me being so uppity.
  14. snicker
    laugh quietly
    The rest of the day, whenever I walked by, everyone wiggled their fingers at me and snickered.
  15. tousle
    disarrange or rumple; dishevel
    “That Mr. Harding,” said David as he tousled my hair, “sounds like a real smart man.”
  16. stumble
    walk unsteadily
    For a minute, I thought I was dreaming, then I heard my parents’ door open and Daddy stumble into the hall.
  17. float
    an elaborate display mounted on a platform in a parade
    As we folded and stamped all the flyers, I kept talking, telling Liz all about the Christmas float our church was doing.
  18. hinder
    be an obstacle to
    Usually, everyone wanted to ride on the float and only one or two people were picked, but this year we had a theme from Matthew 19.14: Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.
  19. gossip
    speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies
    Maybe they started gossiping about me and maybe they didn’t, but I was so busy writing about them, I didn’t hear a word.
  20. activist
    a reformer who works to achieve social or political change
    Mrs. Bates was what Betty Jean called an activist.
  21. expel
    force to leave or move out
    “I mean, I know Ernest Green graduated and Minnijean Brown was expelled, but what about the rest of them?”
  22. moderate
    marked by avoidance of extravagance or extremes
    Three moderate candidates were elected (Lamb, Tucker and Matson) and three segregationists, so the school board was deadlocked again.
  23. lurch
    the act of moving forward suddenly
    There was a lurch, and we started off.
  24. strew
    spread by scattering
    When the man was done, he turned to get his dustpan, and while he wasn’t looking, Red walked through the pile, kicking his feet until bits of paper and bottle caps were strewn across the street again.
  25. beefy
    muscular and heavily built
    He was a large, beefy man who looked like his younger son, if you blew JT up with a bicycle pump to twice his size.
  26. contraption
    a small mechanical device or tool
    But after dinner she was the one who said, “Well, as long as that contraption’s here, you might as well set it up.”
  27. radar
    measuring instrument using pulses of microwave radiation
    “Now, tonight we’ve got something extra special on radar,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.
  28. cashmere
    a soft fabric made from goat's wool
    Judy and I each got new socks and a new sweater (cashmere—mine was pink, and hers was green), and I got a copy of the new Buddy Holly album, That'll Be the Day.
  29. soar
    fly upwards or high in the sky
    Daddy picked up the small wooden plane and made it soar through the air, like a little boy playing with a toy.
  30. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    Then she smiled sheepishly.
  31. pothole
    a pit or cavity in a road produced by wear or weathering
    There was a bump when we landed, and I heard Mother cry out, but truthfully, it wasn’t any worse than going over a pothole in the car.
  32. screech
    make a high-pitched noise
    The brakes screeched and we slowly came to a stop.
  33. cockpit
    compartment where the pilot sits while flying an aircraft
    The door to the cockpit was open, and there were two men in uniform inside, with hundreds of buttons and wires behind them.
  34. satchel
    luggage consisting of a small case with a flat bottom
    Daddy gave me a pink purse, Granny sent me ten dollars, David gave me a new satchel for school, Judy sent a card (Happy Birthday, Little Sis! Hope you have a great day. Send me a piece of cake!) and Mother gave me a silver letter opener.
  35. engrave
    carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface
    “Look,” Mother pointed out, “I had your name engraved.”
  36. glamorous
    having an air of allure, romance and excitement
    “She was my favorite movie star. So glamorous. Even as a baby, I knew you were someone special.”
  37. decimal
    a proper fraction whose denominator is a power of 10
    It was like a repeating decimal.
  38. envious
    painfully desirous of another's advantages
    Daddy and I talked after dinner while we did the dishes, and once I caught Mother watching us, envious, as if she were trying to figure out the easy flow of conversation she and I could never catch.
  39. measles
    a contagious viral disease marked by distinct red spots
    “Yup, white dots. Girl, you got the measles.”
  40. stethoscope
    a medical instrument for listening to sounds inside the body
    He brought his black bag and pulled out his stethoscope.
Created on Thu Dec 07 11:07:21 EST 2017 (updated Thu Dec 07 16:15:55 EST 2017)

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