One Crazy Summer: "Inseparable"–"Coloring and La-La"

by Rita Williams-Garcia
In the summer of 1968, three sisters travel to California to visit their estranged mother. While there, they learn about the fight for equality and civil rights.

This list covers Inseparable–Coloring and La-La.

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

Here are links to our lists for other books by Rita Williams-Garcia: P.S. Be Eleven, Gone Crazy in Alabama, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
12 words 1110 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. indignant
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Vonetta, indignant, said, “I can read street signs too.”
  2. militant
    showing a fighting disposition
    Our crazy mother was sending us outside to find militant strangers if we wanted to eat.
  3. refrain
    resist doing something
    Fern hugged Miss Patty Cake but refrained from putting a piece of toast to her doll’s lips like she would have done at home.
  4. sullenly
    in a manner showing a brooding ill humor
    He pushed his chair backward, scraping the floor, and went sullenly up to the front.
  5. heave
    utter a sound, as with obvious effort
    He heaved a big sigh, like he didn’t want to do whatever it was she told him but would do it anyway.
  6. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    I wanted to join in, but I felt silly, being one of the older kids. Not as silly as Hirohito spinning around but too old to wave my hand frantically as all the younger kids around me were doing.
  7. revolutionary
    a radical supporter of political or social change
    Sister Pat said, “Huey Newton is a revolutionary. Huey makes change.”
  8. snooty
    overly conceited or arrogant
    She certainly wouldn’t have given me that “Oh, you poor motherless girl” pity look. Or the snooty “Don’t you even know your own mother’s name?”
  9. infiltrate
    enter a group or organization in order to spy on the members
    “The feds hire midgets to front as kids. They infiltrate families with long-lost cousins who don’t look a thing like you, but you take them in because that’s how colored folks do; and before you can say 'Way down home,' your long-lost kin are documenting your every move for their weekly secret meetings with the Man."
  10. kin
    a person related to another or others
    “The feds hire midgets to front as kids. They infiltrate families with long-lost cousins who don’t look a thing like you, but you take them in because that’s how colored folks do; and before you can say 'Way down home,' your long-lost kin are documenting your every move for their weekly secret meetings with the Man."
  11. indulgence
    the act of gratifying a desire
    When Brenda and the Tabulations sang “Dry Your Eyes,” my sisters and I imagined they sang about a mother who had to leave her children. It was the only real indulgence we allowed ourselves in missing having a mother.
  12. amiss
    not functioning properly
    I should have known something was amiss by the way Vonetta lagged behind.
Created on Thu Feb 28 14:08:05 EST 2019 (updated Fri Aug 01 12:37:54 EDT 2025)

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