Ghost: Chapters 1–3

by Jason Reynolds
Castle Cranshaw, also known as Ghost, could be the star sprinter on his middle school track team — if he can stay out of trouble.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–10

Here are links to our lists for the Track series: Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu

Here are links to our lists for other books by Jason Reynolds: When I Was the Greatest, The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys, Long Way Down
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. hassle
    annoying inconvenience, trouble, or disturbance
    I'm not even sure they're really worth all the hassle.
  2. morph
    change shape or undergo a transformation
    Every other night he would become a different person, like he'd morph into someone crazy, but this one night my mother decided to finally fight back.
  3. unfazed
    not worried, disturbed, or dismayed by circumstances
    Sunny loped back over and joined the group, unfazed.
  4. cocky
    overly self-confident or self-assertive
    He did that same cocky swagger over to the starting line.
  5. stance
    standing posture
    I lined up with Lu, who had now dropped into his "on your mark" stance.
  6. jeer
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    "Do you not understand what private means?" the coach jeered.
  7. arrogant
    having or showing feelings of unwarranted importance
    He looked me up and down, then flashed an arrogant grin.
  8. exemplary
    worthy of imitation
    And my response would be...well, let's just use the school-y terms — "not exemplary behavior."
  9. altercation
    a noisy, angry argument or fight between people
    There would be no more "altercations."
  10. pallet
    a mattress filled with straw or a pad made of quilts
    I always spread all my blankets out on the floor — three or four to make what Ma calls a pallet — which is where I eventually doze off.
  11. chump
    a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
    Plus he was taller than most of us, so he treated everybody like chumps.
  12. suspension
    a temporary debarment from a privilege or position
    "I'm not gonna give you a full suspension this time, but you do have to go home for the rest of the day."
  13. disciplined
    trained mentally or physically by instruction or exercise
    And he had pictures of past students, probably kids who did excellent things. Disciplined things. Holding ribbons at a science fair. Clutching a trophy.
  14. elaborate
    add details to clarify an idea
    "I got in a fight." I stared out the window as we passed Mr. Charles's store.
    "Care to elaborate?" Coach pried.
  15. slew
    a large number or amount or extent
    Apparently there were a whole slew of different kinds of stretches, and Coach showed me how to do them all.
Created on Mon Jan 29 15:38:19 EST 2018 (updated Wed Jul 30 14:25:10 EDT 2025)

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