Sunny: Chapters 5–9

by Jason Reynolds
Although he would prefer to dance, Sunny runs track in order to please his emotionally distant father. Just when Sunny wants to quit, his coach introduces him to an intriguing new event, the discus.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–9

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. ripple
    stir up so as to form small waves
    Many people's faces look like water. Like if you poked their cheeks, their skin would ripple forever.
  2. ward
    block forming a division of a hospital shared by patients
    But first we have to walk through all the beep beep beeps it takes to get to the cancer ward.
  3. prance
    move or step in a lively, spirited, or showy way
    Diary, how could a word that rhymes with "dancer" be so bad? Not to mention "answer," "prancer," and "romancer"?
  4. tumor
    an abnormal new mass of tissue that serves no purpose
    He's recovering after having another tumor cut out of him.
  5. animation
    making cartoons to appear to move as living creatures do
    But what I do know is that Mr. Rufus can tick with the best of them. I've seen him do it.Turn his body into real life stop-motion animation.
  6. specialty
    an asset of special worth or utility
    And even though he was good at ticking, he said spinning and sliding were his specialties back in the day, and that the crowd always went crazy when he did a split.
  7. league
    an association of sports teams that organizes matches
    She also said I was the best in the whole league and that I'm stupid to quit.
  8. affect
    have an influence upon
    He said all my greatness is going to come out of that small space, and that what I do in that circle will affect how far I go outside of it.
  9. swerve
    turn sharply; change direction abruptly
    Things, like cars and buses and clocks and sun and moon, ticking and changing and swerving and crashing and moving and moving.
  10. allegro
    a brisk and lively tempo
    Just quickly spinning and prancing—Aurelia calls this allegro—which I think is sort of beautiful.
  11. fender
    a guard that protects a vehicle's wheel
    Then she said she wasn't in an accident, somebody else was, but that it was just a fender bender and everybody was being nosy and we'd better hurry up and eat so we can get going.
  12. stagger
    walk as if unable to control one's movements
    I spun and swiped the rest of the breakfast off the island, even Aurelia's, then I staggered backward and knocked the dish soap and paper towels and basically everything on the counter onto the kitchen floor.
  13. maneuver
    a deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity
    Then she threw her arms around me, grabbed me around my stomach and just started yanking me and pulling me toward her, which I guess was supposed to be the Heimlich maneuver.
  14. hack
    cough spasmodically
    And she did that for a while, and I kept hacking and hacking, and eventually, guess what?
  15. coma
    a state of deep and often prolonged unconsciousness
    And as soon as I said that, I thought about how maybe that's not a good thing to talk about while Mr. Rufus is in a coma.
  16. bulge
    swell or protrude outwards
    Gramps pointed to what looked like a whoosh of wind, which was apparently a bulging belly, and said that was me.
  17. endurance
    the power to withstand hardship or stress
    This was our long run practice. The practice to show and improve endurance. And endurance is my specialty.
  18. stance
    standing posture
    He told me to spread my legs a little more, to open my stance and drop my butt down some, to sit on the invisible stool.
  19. optimal
    most desirable possible under a restriction
    STEPS TO A WHOOSH WHOOSH AHH (for optimal discus throwing):
    Stand straight, bend knees just a little.
  20. trickle
    run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream
    It was all feeling weird, which somehow felt not weird for me, if that makes sense. Until everyone started trickling back onto the track from the long run.
  21. fluid
    smooth and unconstrained in movement
    Then he turned back toward me. Told me to remember it's like dancing. A fluid movement. And that he could tell I was thinking about it too much.
  22. crew
    an informal body of friends
    And Patty is the only girl in the crew.
  23. ultimately
    as the end result of a succession or process
    There was a lot of hand movement, and some arm folding, but ultimately it looked okay.
  24. consistently
    in a systematic or steady manner
    Diary, after a few rounds of that, I'm happy to say I was consistently getting the discus up in the air, flat and straight.
  25. experimental
    of the nature of or undergoing a trial
    Usually my birthday is spent with Aurelia taking me to a dance show or a concert, always always always something experimental that involves face painting and neon lights, which is cool, but I'm not sure how much of that screams Happy birthday, Sunny.
  26. bore
    cause to lose interest
    Diary, I don't want to bore you with all the stuff about the ride to the track.
  27. reputation
    the general estimation that the public has for a person
    He said that we were there to defend four things. 1. Our reputation. 2. Our work ethic. 3. Our ability. And more importantly, especially this week since I was doing something new, we're defending 4. each other.
  28. ethic
    a system of principles governing morality and conduct
    He said that we were there to defend four things. 1. Our reputation. 2. Our work ethic. 3. Our ability. And more importantly, especially this week since I was doing something new, we're defending 4. each other.
  29. formerly
    at a previous time
    And lastly, from the Defenders, formerly the master of the mile, Sunnnnnnny Lancaster!
  30. sector
    a plane figure bounded by two radii and the arc of a circle
    If your discus goes outside the sector lines, which means if it hits the track—foul.
Created on Wed May 02 12:02:34 EDT 2018 (updated Wed Oct 31 11:01:19 EDT 2018)

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