Hurricane Child: Chapters 3–5

by Kacen Callender
Born on the U.S. Virgin Islands during a hurricane, Caroline has always considered herself unlucky: she is bullied at school, her mother has disappeared, and, worst of all, she seems to be haunted by a spirit. But a new friendship will force Caroline to face her problems and perhaps turn her luck around.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–5, Chapters 6–7, Chapters 8–13
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. uproot
    pull up by or as if by the roots
    The bins are filled with these cards, but I don’t see my mother’s postcards anywhere, so I look and look and look and uproot the bins, and when I’ve gone through every single last card, I look inside of the picture books too, in case the cards have been used as bookmarks, and I look behind the gardening tools and inside the cupboards and try not to cry with how frustrated I am.
  2. notion
    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
    I’ve known my father my entire life, and he knew me even before my life began, so it’s a funny notion, that I still have to get to know him.
  3. alight
    shining brightly as if on fire or aflame
    Missus Wilhelmina’s classroom is alight with excitement the next morning.
  4. bode
    indicate by signs
    That kind of excitement never bodes well for me.
  5. grave
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    All I can see are scarred brown knees and white socks and shining black loafers, but the voice that comes out nearly sounds like a grown woman’s—it’s deep and grave.
  6. perpetrator
    someone who commits wrongdoing
    Missus Wilhelmina would usually whip around and clap her hands together and demand that the perpetrator stand outside in the hot courtyard for the rest of the lesson (unless it was me—if it was me, then I would get a walloping right then and there), but today she only continues to scratch her chalk against the chalkboard.
  7. collective
    done by or characteristic of individuals acting together
    Anise’s eyes become big, and there’s a collective intake of breath around the room—but then Kalinda smiles and looks at the chalkboard again, and it’s clear that she was only joking, and the room erupts with giggles that Missus Wilhelmina finally can’t ignore.
  8. anticipation
    an expectation
    Students are speaking around Kalinda loudly, buzzing with anticipation, and whenever there’s a break in the noise, I can tell even from where I stand, it’s because Kalinda is speaking.
  9. apparent
    clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
    She chooses to say this specifically, because just a few months before, it became apparent that a horrible smell had begun to ooze from my skin, so much so that Missus Wilhelmina one day pulled me to the side and told me that I need to wear more deodorant.
  10. inquisitive
    showing curiosity
    She turns her head to the side inquisitively over her tall pile of books.
  11. sliver
    a thin fragment or slice that has been shaved from something
    She reaches behind her and pulls out a sliver of sugar cane and hands it to me, and her eyes smile at me, though her lips just keep on singing their tune.
  12. brim
    the top edge of a vessel or other container
    Miss Joe stares at the ceiling brightly, filled to the brim with memories.
  13. surge
    a sudden or abrupt strong increase
    I have a surge of anger toward my dad.
  14. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    The last time I stepped over the threshold was over a year ago.
  15. jolt
    an abrupt spasmodic movement
    Seeing her clothes and shoes sends a jolt through me.
  16. frustrating
    preventing realization or attainment of a desire
    On and on she goes, and though this would normally be so frustrating, to listen to someone talk as much as the frogs make noise at night, I realize I don’t actually mind.
  17. allot
    give out
    Her questions remind me of one of those school games we used to play, where each team has to ask and answer as many questions as possible in the allotted time, and whoever has the most correct answers wins.
  18. accordion
    a portable box-shaped free-reed instrument
    That man is Mister Thompson, and he lives in my neighborhood and plays an accordion and sings into all hours of the night.
  19. combative
    inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree
    I have a way of asking things, a way of speaking—“combative,” Miss Joe calls it, because I always automatically assume everyone just wants to be in a fight with me, because so far in my life, most people have.
  20. assume
    take to be the case or to be true
    I have a way of asking things, a way of speaking—“combative,” Miss Joe calls it, because I always automatically assume everyone just wants to be in a fight with me, because so far in my life, most people have.
  21. pang
    a sudden sharp feeling
    (I realize with a pang that perhaps Kalinda didn’t want to hold my hand because she doesn’t care for me at all.)
  22. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    We come to her house, which is in a neighborhood where men slam dominoes on a rickety table under the shade of a yellow mango tree, and where the roads are lined with rusting cars missing their tires.
  23. ornate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    There’s a man who I think must be Kalinda’s father sitting in the living room, which doesn’t have a TV, and he’s bent over an ornate chair leg that’s growing from the block of wood that stands on a square of plastic and wood shavings.
  24. mundane
    found in the ordinary course of events
    It’s enough to make me wonder if Kalinda is even really from the same mundane world I was born in.
  25. shroud
    cover as if with a burial garment
    She watches me without an expression on her face, because it seems even that is shrouded in blackness, in shadow, in darkness that’s growing and spreading across my wall and my bed until it seems like it’s night even though I know full well it’s day, and I can’t see anything at all but the glint of the white in her eye, almost as though her eyes are glowing themselves, stars shining in the night sky.
Created on Mon Jan 07 15:57:26 EST 2019 (updated Wed Jan 09 08:40:16 EST 2019)

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