"One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia, List 3

In the summer of 1968, three sisters travel to California to visit their estranged mother. While there, they learn about the fight for equality and civil rights.

This list covers "For the People"–"Inseparable"

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5, List 6, List 7, List 8, List 9, List 10

Here are links to our lists for other other books by Rita Williams-Garcia: P.S. Be Eleven, Gone Crazy in Alabama, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
28 words 213 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. signal
    any action or gesture that encodes a message
    Scrunched together, pressing our ears to the door, wall, or air, we used hand signals and mouthed words instead of whispered.
  2. glare
    look at with a fixed or angry gaze
    Fern’s fists balled from behind her nightie and again I reached out, Cecile glared, like, Girl, I will knock you down.
  3. seize
    take control without authority
    “Seize the time.”
  4. medical
    relating to the study or practice of medicine
    The Panthers on TV said they were in communities to protect poor black people from the pow­erful; to provide things like food, clothing, and medical help; and to fight racism.
  5. racism
    the prejudice that one people are superior to another
    The Panthers on TV said they were in communities to protect poor black people from the pow­erful; to provide things like food, clothing, and medical help; and to fight racism.
  6. selfish
    concerned chiefly with your own advantage
    Big Ma said God could not have made a being more selfish than Cecile.
  7. refuse
    show unwillingness towards
    I knew Ali had refused to go to Vietnam and fight like Uncle Darnell was doing.
  8. extreme
    far beyond a norm in quantity, amount, or degree
    The third voice added, “Like Huey said, ‘We should all carry the weight, and those who have extreme abilities will have to carry extremely heavy loads’”
  9. mission
    a special assignment that is given to a person or group
    This was the next part after the spy missions.
  10. chant
    recite with musical intonation
    Flashes of Cecile chanting words, tapping a rhythm with her pencil, then writing.
  11. entertain
    provide amusement for
    She loved entertaining us.
  12. track
    go after with the intent to catch
    “With all the money she’d have to print up to buy this house, the FBI would have tracked her down and thrown her in the pokey."
  13. porcelain
    ceramic ware made of a more or less translucent ceramic
    After I got my sisters in, out, dried, and lotioned, I took my bath, setting my watch on the porcelain edge to keep an eye on my own twelve minutes in the tub.
  14. clammy
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    Bathwater made the leather hard and clammy against my skin.
  15. reliable
    worthy of being depended on
    Only when I sat in the tub did I wish my Timex wasn’t so reliable or the ticking so steady.
  16. demand
    request urgently and forcefully
    Still, she yawned and demanded story time.
  17. rescue
    recovery or preservation from loss or danger
    My mouth sped to Fern’s rescue, but Cecile’s raised hand stopped me.
  18. tower
    appear very large or occupy a commanding position
    Now they stood across from each other: Cecile towering over Fern with her arms crossed, and Fern looking up at Cecile.
  19. ease
    move gently or carefully
    I took one of Fern’s fists in my hand and eased it flat.
  20. volunteer
    tell on one's own accord
    I’d been dumb enough to volunteer facts about my mother for show-and-tell.
  21. inseparable
    not capable of being split
    Except for going to school and church, Fern and Miss Patty Cake had been inseparable for as long as Fern or anyone else could remember.
  22. indignant
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Vonetta, indignant, said, “I can read street signs too.”
  23. revolution
    a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking
    Then she cut herself off from us, tapped her fountain pen, and repeated, “Black folks, in black clothes, rapping revolution.”
  24. militant
    showing a fighting disposition
    Our crazy mother was sending us outside to find militant strangers if we wanted to eat.
  25. invade
    intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, or violate
    I didn't mind Fern's stomping because it annoyed Cecile that her house had been invaded by our mouths, wants, and feet.
  26. disgust
    strong feelings of dislike
    From her look of disgust I believed Cecile would have spat on her own floor if she wouldn’t have had to clean it up.
  27. delight
    a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction
    Fern shook four braids and barrettes and said, “No,” taking delight in answering no for no’s sake.
  28. groan
    indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure
    Vonetta groaned.
Created on Mon Feb 25 20:23:56 EST 2013 (updated Thu Feb 28 09:02:32 EST 2019)

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