P.S. Be Eleven: List 4

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 Brooklyn Magic–Change of Seasons.

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 14 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. immortalize
    make famous forever
    Uncle Darnell used to tell us stories about the Arabian Knight and how he died defending this block from urban decay and that his face had been immortalized in plaster to keep watch over Herkimer Street.
  2. engage
    carry out or participate in an activity
    Instead, “Sidney Poitier” said, “You can’t behave as you did in the fifth grade. When you behave like the upperclassmen and upperclasswomen that you are, we’ll engage in grade-six activities. Now, notebooks on desks.”
  3. swoon
    pass out from weakness or physical or emotional distress
    “Mr. Mwila,” he said—and Lucy practically swooned—“it isn’t fair. Why should we all be punished because someone”—he looked at Ant—“threw the first spitball?”
  4. conduct
    behave in a certain manner
    “This isn’t a punishment, Michael. It’s an opportunity. If we can’t conduct ourselves with decorum during the film, we’ll jump ahead with mathematics, and what can be better than to leap ahead?”
  5. jerky
    marked by abrupt starts and stops
    The music was so jerky and bad, no one at the party could dance to it.
  6. satchel
    luggage consisting of a small case with a flat bottom
    And when he said for the third time, “I’ll give you all the cash I have in this satchel if you sign the deed to this property over to me,” Big Ma raised her Bible like a bad boy holds up a brick at a shiny new window.
  7. smite
    inflict a heavy blow on, with the hand, a tool, or a weapon
    “By the God of Abraham and Little David, I will smite you down!” she said.
  8. reflect
    think deeply on a subject
    He laughed. Big. “It is my season to read this book. I know this story well. I’ve read it many times. But it is my season to reflect on certain passages.”
  9. beret
    a soft cap with no brim or bill
    He was looking fine in his Black Panther beret and leather jacket.
  10. determined
    characterized by great firmness of purpose
    She was determined to be the best saver imaginable, determined to see her precious Jermaine and Marlon in person, and determined to prove me wrong about her being irresponsible.
  11. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    Uncle Darnell seemed like his dimpled, jokey self. Like he wasn’t war tired and like he hadn’t had a fitful night.
  12. reluctantly
    with a certain degree of unwillingness
    He reluctantly rolled his chest and head to sit up straight, face forward.
  13. stupendous
    so great in size, force, or extent as to elicit awe
    “Much better,” Mr. Mwila said as if Ellis had done something stupendous.
  14. reprimand
    rebuke formally
    The boys loved seeing a girl get reprimanded and couldn’t hold it in.
  15. objective
    the goal intended to be attained
    Then he wrote subjects on the board and began to talk about the “objectives for our group discussions and presentations.”
  16. electoral college
    the body that formally selects the United States president
    All around the room, groups were talking about voters’ rights, the electoral college, the two-party system, and Richard Nixon versus Hubert Humphrey.
  17. warble
    sing or play with trills
    With his eyelashes fluttering, the K said in a high-pitched warble, "I’ll bake the Vietcong a nice apple pie."
  18. pucker
    gather something into small wrinkles or folds
    Then I saw Danny’s spit shooting through his puckered lips.
  19. beady
    small, round, and shiny
    With his eyes sparkling like beady marble shooters, Danny the K whistled that stupid TV dolphin song, and he dared me to do something about it.
  20. stew
    be in a huff; be silent or sullen
    I didn’t want to stew over the detention note that she or Pa had to sign.
  21. ghetto
    a poor densely populated city district
    He was too young, talking about changing things in Bedford-Stuyvesant and in every other ghetto.
  22. militant
    a reformer disposed to hard-line policies
    Instead of fixing things for the Negro race, Richard Nixon would win the war in Vietnam, clean up the country of its long-haired, drug-smoking hippies, and get those black militants and bean-pie-selling “Mooslims” in line.
  23. crow
    brag openly or dwell on with satisfaction
    That was worth Vonetta crowing over her job as our saver, and boy, did she crow.
  24. mushy
    very sentimental or emotional
    He pecked Miss Marva Hendrix on the forehead, and Fern said, “Ew. Mushy and gushy.”
    Big Ma said, “Let’s not have any of that mushy and gushy at the table.”
  25. ultimatum
    a final peremptory demand
    Although I couldn’t hear all of the words, I could hear what Sister Mukumbu called an “ultimatum.”
  26. wolf down
    eat quickly
    He didn’t wolf down his food or dance lame old dances like he used to.
  27. polio
    a viral disease that can cause muscle weakness or paralysis
    “Almost? Almost?” Lucy went on as if I had said I almost had polio. “There’s no such thing as almost. Not with the Jackson Five! Girl, are you crazy?”
  28. leaflet
    a small book usually having a paper cover
    Thanks to Miss Marva Hendrix, I brought in a Shirley Chisholm button along with her leaflet.
  29. dampen
    lessen in force or effect
    Danny the K didn’t dampen Rukia Marshall’s far-out thinking one iota.
  30. iota
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
    Danny the K didn’t dampen Rukia Marshall’s far-out thinking one iota.
Created on Fri Feb 08 19:20:56 EST 2019 (updated Thu Feb 28 15:25:41 EST 2019)

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