Shadowshaper: Chapters 8–14

by Daniel José Older
When her Brooklyn neighborhood is threatened, Sierra must master and protect an ancestral form of magic called shadowshaping.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–14, Chapters 15–21, Chapters 22–32, Chapters 33–Epilogue

Here is a link to our lists for Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sprawling
    spreading out in different directions
    She found a sprawling map and ran her finger along it till she found the area called Anthropology Archives.
  2. conspiratorial
    relating to or characteristic of a secret plot or agreement
    “Oooh!” she said, smiling conspiratorially.
  3. dingy
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
    “I love books and I wanna be around ’em all day, even if it’s in some dingy basement at a stuffy old university on the Upper West Side.”
  4. dissertation
    a treatise advancing a point of view resulting from research
    Ugh, you ask me these questions like it won’t end up with me unloading a dissertation into your ear until three o’clock in the morning.
  5. funk
    an earthy type of jazz combining it with blues and soul
    Neville either ignored her or couldn’t hear her over the old funk song he was happily singing along to as they cruised down the West Side Highway.
  6. wane
    become smaller
    The world seemed to get stranger and stranger by the hour, but the waning afternoon stayed stubbornly beautiful.
  7. bodega
    small shop selling groceries, especially in a Hispanic area
    Sierra thanked him, grabbed a pack of gum and an icey at Carlos’s bodega, and then leaned against the wall in the shade of the red awning.
  8. archetypal
    of an original pattern on which other things are modeled
    The shadowshapers’ mythology revolves around an archetypal spirit named Lucera, who apparently vanished mysteriously a few months back, not long after l entered the fold.
  9. manifest
    reveal its presence or make an appearance
    The vacancy has left them struggling, but still one can feel the buzzing of spirits in the air, the power of a collective imagination manifesting its devotion to ancestry across the walls and inner sanctums of the city.
  10. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    He smirked when he said it, as if realizing it would rile my deepest insecurities.
  11. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    He gingerly eased himself up, exhaling a slew of Spanish curses as he got to a full standing position, then swiveled his hips in a creaky circle, stomping forward arthritically.
  12. slew
    a large number or amount or extent
    He gingerly eased himself up, exhaling a slew of Spanish curses as he got to a full standing position, then swiveled his hips in a creaky circle, stomping forward arthritically.
  13. concede
    admit or acknowledge, often reluctantly
    Sierra nodded, conceding the point, as Rutilio struggled back to his feet and hurled a random scrap of metal for Cojones to chase after.
  14. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    A few birds flitted past, and down below, families meandered by on the way to the park.
  15. rivet
    hold someone's attention
    “Let me tell you, este viejo...he used to have us riveted. Us, a bunch of old men, sitting there silent as a room full of escared children, waiting to see what happens next. The domino game would be on hold.”
  16. notorious
    known widely and usually unfavorably
    That in itself was an impressive feat; the domino guys were notorious for continuing games unabated through all kinds of natural disasters and even, infamously, a shoot-out.
  17. abate
    make less active or intense
    That in itself was an impressive feat; the domino guys were notorious for continuing games unabated through all kinds of natural disasters and even, infamously, a shoot-out.
  18. convulse
    shake uncontrollably
    The whole scaffolding convulsed rhythmically as he made his way to the ground.
  19. dainty
    delicately beautiful
    They passed an all-night hair salon and then a fancy new bakery with dainty cupcakes stenciled on the window.
  20. sap
    deplete
    It had been a sudden and devastating death, and everyone said it was grief that had sapped the old man’s ability to make sense anymore.
  21. inconsolable
    sad beyond comforting
    Sierra hadn’t found it in herself to cry—the shock seemed to knock away all emotion and just leave her with a dull, vacant throbbing—but her brother Juan had been inconsolable.
  22. glower
    look angry or sullen as if to signal disapproval
    Laz still smiled and Mama Carmen still glowered from their faded Kodachrome world.
  23. careen
    move sideways or in an unsteady way
    Juan’s band careened into another chorus on her headphones.
  24. warble
    sing or play with trills
    The music roared to a new height of thrashing, static-laced madness, and then got suddenly extra chill as the syncopated bass tumbao trundled out, followed by the clack-clack of the clave and then the swinging horns and warbling keyboards.
  25. pry
    move or force in an effort to get something open
    Sierra used a knife to pry the last strands out of the tiny holes in the press.
  26. pungent
    strong and sharp to the sense of taste or smell
    Her hands shone with the pungent juice and slipped around as she worked the tip of the blade back and forth.
  27. offhand
    casually thoughtless or inconsiderate
    She’d been listening to Tia Rosa’s offhand bigotry her whole life and mostly learned to just tune it out.
  28. undaunted
    unshaken in purpose
    She loved it the way it was, free and undaunted.
  29. slur
    a negative or offensive remark about someone
    And that meant that for all the times she’d shrugged off one of those slurs, some little tentacle of them still crawled its way toward her heart.
  30. dub
    give a nickname to
    The Takeover (as Bennie had dubbed it once) had been going on for a few years now, but tonight its pace seemed to have accelerated tenfold.
  31. wily
    marked by skill in deception
    She began wrestling another strand of wily hair into submission.
  32. discreet
    marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint
    Club Kalfour turned out to be a discreet little operation on the corner of two quiet streets in East Flatbush.
  33. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    The lights passed fleetingly across the faces of couples dancing, teenagers chatting in corners, some old guys nursing drinks at the bar, and waitresses working the floor.
  34. dank
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    A haze of smoke hung in the air; it wasn’t the sweet mustiness of her abuelo’s Malaguenas but a danker, cigarette smell.
  35. render
    show in, or as in, a picture
    Each wall of Club Kalfour was covered with an epic masterpiece rendered in Robbie’s distinctive graffiti-like style.
Created on Fri Mar 30 11:15:08 EDT 2018 (updated Thu May 23 09:54:55 EDT 2019)

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