P.S. Be Eleven: List 2

by Rita Williams-Garcia
This sequel to One Crazy Summer focuses on Delphine, the eldest Gaither sister, as she begins sixth grade and navigates unexpected changes in her family.

This list covers Herkimer Street–At Madison Square Garden.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5

Here are links to our lists for other books by Rita Williams-Garcia: One Crazy Summer, Gone Crazy in Alabama, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
30 words 26 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. shudder
    tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
    I shuddered as a picture flashed before me.
  2. curtsy
    bend the knees in a gesture of respectful greeting
    For us it meant bowing. Curtsying. Dancing boy-girl with hands touching.
  3. slug
    strike heavily, especially with the fist or a bat
    For me, the sixth-grade dance meant trying to match steps with boys I’d slugged.
  4. armory
    a structure where military equipment is stored
    The redbrick armory stood in the distance on Bedford and Atlantic Avenues like a fortress, or as Uncle Darnell would tell us, like a princess’s castle.
  5. stoop
    small porch or set of steps at the front entrance of a house
    Although the neighborhood begged for Change, Positive Change on every other election billboard after the riots, I was glad to find everything where we had left it. Even neighbors sat on their stoops as if they hadn’t moved since we had gone.
  6. dread
    be afraid or scared of
    I was glad to be home, but I dreaded it all the same.
  7. recess
    an enclosure that is set back or indented
    Big Ma creaked along into the recesses of the house.
  8. squabble
    a quarrel about petty points
    I’m usually good at staying one step ahead of a major squabble, but my sisters seemed to have gotten better at keeping things stirred up between them.
  9. lag
    hang or fall in movement, progress, development, etc.
    I lagged behind. “Where you going, Pa?”
  10. confound
    be confusing or perplexing to
    I probably had a “Cecile look” on my face for the times we said things that completely confounded her.
  11. incarcerate
    lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
    “He’s a political prisoner,” I said. “Unjustly incarcerated by the Man.”
  12. phony
    a person who professes beliefs that he or she does not hold
    Crazy Kelvin, the strongest-speaking Black Panther my sisters and I had met at the People’s Center, who was also shown up to be a phony.
  13. astray
    away from the right path or direction
    “You can’t tell me nothing about that war baby’s father. He’s ’bout criminal. Just like the rest of ’em. Nothing but a band of criminals leading good Negroes astray.”
  14. stationery
    paper cut to an appropriate size for writing letters
    They were more interested in leftover change for Jolly Ranchers candy than in stationery and stamps.
  15. conform
    adapt oneself to new or different conditions
    They are mine and no one else's. They've conformed to me and can't be worn by anyone but me.
  16. wring
    twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract liquid
    I should have danced a jig and said, “Less shirts for me to wash, wring out, starch, and iron.”
  17. sulk
    be in a huff and display one's displeasure
    Before I could properly sulk about it, the doorbell rang and Pa was smiling and springing up out of his chair.
  18. petite
    very small
    Miss Marva Hendrix was what magazines called petite.
  19. dainty
    affectedly refined
    Fern did Vonetta one better, daintily holding out her skirt hem as if she wore a hoopskirt, and said, “I’m Fern, but my mother calls me Afua.”
  20. envy
    feel desirous of another's advantages
    I envied my baby sister. I wished I could just say things.
  21. oblige
    provide a service or favor for someone
    New Pa bent down and gave Miss Hendrix a smack on the lips to encourage Vonetta and Fern, who obliged him with a lot of high-pitched oohing.
  22. fiancee
    a woman who is engaged to be married
    “Cecile is big. Bigger than Big Ma. Bigger than you,” Vonetta said. “And Pa’s fiancée is nice and wears nice clothes.”
  23. pleat
    make folds in a garment or piece of fabric
    I was tired of wearing the same pleated wool skirts my sisters wore, but Big Ma wouldn’t hear about anything different.
  24. aide
    someone who acts as an assistant
    Miss Honeywell, a teacher and a grown woman, was escorted to the principal’s office like a bad boy walking the “paddle mile,” while a hallway aide watched her classroom.
  25. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    Mrs. Raleigh called after her, her arms laden with outfits—all mod, I was certain.
  26. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    Big Ma’s disdain bounced right off of Lucy.
  27. earful
    a severe scolding
    I got an earful from Big Ma, but she paid for the mod jumper.
  28. sane
    mentally healthy; free from mental disorder
    That was the last sane and clear thought I had before I saw at least a hundred bright lightbulbs and five boys onstage singing that new Sly and the Family Stone song.
  29. rowdy
    disturbing the public peace; loud and rough
    "Are you sure you want to do that? All those rowdy teenagers screaming and hollering over some finger-popping little hoodlums in Afros?”
  30. prophecy
    knowledge of the future, as from a divine source
    She stepped on my question right away with one of her own. “Delphine, do you know what a self-fulfilling prophecy is?”
Created on Thu Feb 07 20:58:36 EST 2019 (updated Thu Feb 28 15:24:17 EST 2019)

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