Rebound: List 3

by Kwame Alexander
After the death of his father, Chuck Bell spends the summer with grandparents and finds solace in basketball. Learn these words from the prequel to The Crossover.

This list covers "Awry"–"Conversation with Your Mother."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3

Here are links to our lists for other books by Kwame Alexander: The Crossover, Booked, Solo, Swing
35 words 180 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. awry
    away from the correct or expected course
    Awry

    Wink goes
    to his corner
    and their guy follows him,
    just like Roxie said,
    so I run
    to my corner, but—
    Wait,
    WAIT.
    What’s going on?
  2. intensity
    high level or degree
    and it’s real quiet
    in the gym
    and you can almost smell
    the intensity
  3. mockery
    humorous or satirical mimicry
    Mockery

    Charlie got a girlfriend
    Charlie got a girlfriend
    Charlie got a girlfriend, Roxie teases
  4. scorch
    become singed under intense heat or dry conditions
    Scorched

    Granddad, can you put the air on, please? Roxie asks.
    Yeah, it’s burning up back here, I say, lifting my shirt to
    wipe my sweat.

    Roll your window down if you’re hot, he says.
  5. deprive
    keep from having, keeping, or obtaining
    You’re depriving us. We could faint, Roxie complains.

    I didn’t faint, and I didn’t have AC for the first forty-seven
    years of my life. We only had one fan when I was your age.
  6. summon
    call in an official matter, such as to attend court
    The Black Panther, chief
    of the West African country of
    Wakanda, summons
    the Fantastic Four
    for a hunt
  7. staggering
    so surprisingly impressive as to stun or overwhelm
    they get zapped
    and trapped
    by a vast and staggering
    complex of unfathomable
    electronic marvels
  8. unfathomable
    impossible to come to understand
    they get zapped
    and trapped
    by a vast and staggering
    complex of unfathomable
    electronic marvels
  9. meditation
    continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject
    Thinking is good for the soul.
    His soul? Like meditation? He does this every morning?
  10. cope
    come to terms with
    Most mornings. It’s how he copes, how he moves forward.
  11. submerge
    put under water
    ...watching
    the Harlem Globetrotters
    is like watching
    Harry Houdini
    cut a woman in half
    or reappear
    from being submerged
  12. raucous
    unpleasantly loud and harsh
    his pants
    get pulled down
    and a basket
    of confetti gets
    dumped on his head
    by Curly,
    which sends
    the whole arena
    into raucous laughter.
  13. collective
    done by or characteristic of individuals acting together
    When he says,

    Seat number...
    402,
    a collective gasp
    fills the arena
  14. bitter
    marked by strong resentment or cynicism
    I get up,
    quietly,
    inch past
    her bitterness,
    and make
    my way
    down to center court
    for a chance
    to win!
  15. captivated
    filled with wonder and delight
    There are a few boos,
    but mostly everyone
    is captivated
    by the dunk.
  16. paisley
    a fabric with a colorful swirled pattern of curved shapes
    When I get home
    sitting on my bed
    next to my folded clothes
    that I thank
    Grandma for folding
    is a paisley envelope
    addressed
    to Charlie Bell
    from Crystal Stanley.
  17. despondent
    without or almost without hope
    she was acting despondent,
    as in glum and unhappy
  18. postscript
    a note appended to a letter after the signature
    PPS. Did you know that PS means “postscript, ” as in
    an afterthought, as in you still have some more things to say
    after you finish writing.
  19. boast
    talk about oneself with excessive pride or self-regard
    Like this, Roxie, I say,
    boasting
    and crossing
    her up,
    but not fast enough
  20. illuminate
    make lighter or brighter
    We play
    till the moon floats

    across the sky
    way past

    the time
    the streetlights

    illuminate
    the court
  21. rival
    the contestant you hope to defeat
    Yeah, the Boys and Girls Club is playing the YMCA.

    Exactly, and they’re our rivals. They beat us last year, and
    they never stopped bragging.
  22. unbearable
    incapable of being put up with
    Because
    I go to the same school as two of their players, and they
    literally bragged about it every day at lunch, and it was
    unbearable, Chuck. I tell ya, unbearable.
  23. delirious
    marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion
    I’m about to take flight.

    Don’t get delirious.
  24. sanity
    normal or sound powers of mind
    I do, then
    follow her
    in the door
    to sanity.
  25. reminisce
    recall the past
    They were so cute.
    Yeah, real cute, Alice. Now how about we stop all the
    reminiscing.
  26. rhetorical question
    an inquiry that is not supposed to be answered
    CJ, what are you doing on the phone?
    Let’s not waste time with rhetorical questions. What’s up,
    Charlie? I mean, Chuck?
  27. transit
    a journey
    Oh. You didn’t get a package?

    No.
    Well, I guess it’s still in transit. The Post Office is so slow.
  28. stern
    serious and harsh in manner or behavior
    Roxie comes up to me

    and I’m thinking
    she wants to thank me

    for playing on her team
    but what she says,

    with a real stern look,
    is Don’t screw up, Chuck. Please, don’t you screw up!
  29. dubious
    fraught with uncertainty or doubt
    I’ve missed
    a thousand free throws,
    clanked
    a hundred brick shots,
    been beat
    by Roxie
    eleven times,
    and my game
    is still dubious
  30. taunt
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    one of the boys
    on the other team
    starts taunting
    us, then says
    to her,
    Maybe you should play on a girls’ team.
  31. petrify
    cause to become stunned or immobile, as with fear or awe
    There is one tragic sound that still jolts
    me, that terrorizes my heart
    and menaces me so bad
    that I can’t breathe. A sound
    that petrifies me
  32. technically
    according to the exact meaning; according to the facts
    ...technically we could arrest you as an
    adult, and—
  33. flair
    distinctive and stylish elegance
    I tell you what, though,
    you’ll make a lot more

    than you miss if
    you’re not always going for

    the flash
    and flair.
  34. antic
    a playful, attention-getting act done for fun and amusement
    the four of us
    sit at the table
    and they start talking
    about all the antics
    of the cookout
  35. lugubrious
    excessively mournful
    As in: When we leave for college, Mom’s gonna be all
    lugubrious too.
    Sad?
    Naw, man, like REALLY, REALLY SAD.
Created on Thu Jun 14 12:57:56 EDT 2018 (updated Wed May 01 11:19:27 EDT 2019)

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