The Parker Inheritance: Chapters 19–29

by Varian Johnson
While spending the summer at her grandmother's house in Lambert, South Carolina, Candice finds an intriguing old letter in the attic. She joins forces with a neighbor to follow the clues in the letter and find a hidden treasure — but solving the mystery means uncovering past injustices in Lambert.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–18, Chapters 19–29, Chapters 30–40, Chapters 41–52
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    Brandon was good—way better than she expected him to be, even after learning he used to play on a team with Milo. She felt a little guilty about this new revelation.
  2. lob
    propel in a high arc
    Brandon took a final shot, then lobbed the ball toward Candice.
  3. grid
    a pattern of regularly spaced horizontal and vertical lines
    But instead of completing a number grid, she was trying to fill in dates, times, and locations.
  4. swivel
    turn on a pivot
    She nudged his chair with her foot, causing it to swivel.
  5. priority
    status established in order of importance or urgency
    “The first priority is to buy the house. We’ll figure out how to split the rest afterward.”
  6. obituary
    a notice of someone's death
    “Plus, according to his obituary, he was still teaching at Perkins when James Parker was running all those companies in Colorado. There’s no way he could do both.”
  7. lynch
    kill without legal sanction
    “Now hurry up. I'm not trying to get lynched because of you.”
  8. wince
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    He leaned against the porch railing. A splinter dug into his hand, but he wasn’t about to wince.
  9. publicity
    a message issued in behalf of some product or cause or idea
    Coach Turner scratched his chin. “No tricks. No publicity. Just us and the boys?”
  10. marionette
    a figure operated from above with strings by a puppeteer
    Parker. It all came back to him. She pictured him in a tuxedo and top hat, pulling at their marionette strings.
  11. segregation
    a social system that provides different facilities for minority groups
    “Briggs v. Elliott was a court case in Summerton, South Carolina, in the fifties. It challenged school segregation.”
  12. divvy
    separate into parts or portions
    They divvied up the yearbooks and quickly flipped through the pages.
  13. hassle
    annoying inconvenience, trouble, or disturbance
    “And yes, if they’re going to go through all the hassle to vandalize one of my books, you’d think they’d check their spelling.”
  14. rain check
    a promise that an offer will be renewed in the future
    “Can we take a rain check on those chili-cheese dogs?” he asked.
  15. retribution
    the act of taking revenge
    “Those white boys brag too much. I want a little justice.”
    “You want retribution against any white man that ever looked at you the wrong way.”
  16. headway
    forward movement
    “Don’t you know how hard we worked? How much we sacrificed? But now we’re finally making some real headway. One day, colored children will go to integrated schools—”
  17. integrated
    designated as available to all races or groups
    “Don’t you know how hard we worked? How much we sacrificed? But now we’re finally making some real headway. One day, colored children will go to integrated schools—”
  18. alimony
    support paid by one spouse to another after separation
    “Maybe a little of both. We don’t need all that extra room. And it costs a lot of money to heat and cool that house. But yes, the mortgage is really expensive too. Even with your father’s alimony, it’s a lot for us to cover.”
  19. sophisticated
    having worldly knowledge and refinement
    It wasn’t very strong at all, not like real wine, but Candice still felt a little sophisticated whenever her mother used it.
  20. half-hearted
    feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm
    Her mother responded with a half-hearted wave, which Candice took as permission.
  21. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    It took a bit of coaxing (and Brandon promising to wash her car) but she eventually agreed to drive them.
  22. supernova
    a star that explodes and becomes luminous in the process
    Candice’s skin went supernova. “We’re not dating!”
  23. lush
    produced or growing in extreme abundance
    Every yard was perfectly manicured with lush green grass.
  24. rail
    criticize severely
    Candice’s stomach twisted into a knot as Ellie railed on her grandmother.
  25. slump
    assume a drooping posture or carriage
    But Mrs. Farmer had begun to slump in her seat, and had yawned more and more as the conversation went on.
  26. empathize
    be understanding of
    Billy had had a crush on Penelope Allen for years, though she never gave him the time of day. Chip could empathize.
  27. contaminate
    make impure
    “That’s what happens when they let them use the same water as civilized people. You start to become contaminated. Good thing they can’t swim here.”
  28. levelheaded
    exercising or showing good judgment
    His affection for Penelope Allen aside, Billy was clearly the most levelheaded of the three boys.
  29. tuft
    a bunch or cluster of strands, as of grass, hair, etc.
    Chip looked at himself in his rearview mirror, then patted down a tuft of hair at the top of his head.
  30. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    She seemed to falter for a second, then continued forward, toward him.
  31. bravado
    a swaggering show of courage
    All of Chip’s bravado melted away. “I, um, I was headed to the school but stopped when I saw you.”
  32. ace
    a serve that the receiver is unable to reach
    “Pratt looks good, but he gets too nervous. He’s trying to hit an ace with every serve. Those courts at Wallace are too new. He’s not gonna be able to control the ball like that.”
  33. arc
    a continuous portion of a circle
    “My friend Quincy. I used to practice with him and his dad. We're both small, so his dad had us working on getting more air under our arc.”
  34. pavilion
    a large and often sumptuous tent
    Workers from the city were unloading tables underneath a pavilion—probably for the festival tomorrow.
  35. fissure
    a long narrow opening
    The asphalt on one court was old and deteriorating, with multiple potholes and fissures.
  36. defiance
    an act boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    Siobhan hadn’t taken Reggie very seriously at first. He was a boy. A distraction. A small bit of defiance toward her father.
  37. lanky
    tall and thin and having long slender limbs
    He was tall and lanky, but he walked with a purpose.
  38. rook
    a castle-shaped chess piece that moves in a straight line
    Siobhan closed her eyes and tried to picture the board. There was the king, queen, rook, bishop, knight...
  39. ironically
    in a manner characterized by incongruity or unexpectedness
    Ironically, her father helped Reggie land some of those jobs—before he knew they were a couple, of course.
  40. vengeance
    harming someone in retaliation for something they have done
    She had stood outside, at the window, and listened as her mother talked about the difference between vengeance and justice.
Created on Fri Jun 29 19:51:34 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Jul 10 13:27:10 EDT 2018)

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