Starfish: Chapters 1–10

by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Kiko is devastated when she is not accepted to art school. Longing for an escape from her stifling community and self-absorbed mother, she accepts an unexpected invitation to travel to California with an old friend.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–26, Chapters 27–42, Chapter 43–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cerulean
    bright blue in color, like a clear sky
    Now all I can think about is how the blue glaze looks more gray than cerulean, how the torso is so unrealistically long, and how bad of an idea it was to make a mermaid teapot at all.
  2. technically
    according to the exact meaning; according to the facts
    I mean, I do have friends. I have Emery Webber, who rescued me from having to eat lunch by myself on the first day of freshman year. And there’s Gemma and Cassidy, who are technically Emery’s friends, but we all sit at the same lunch table so I think they count.
  3. gruff
    deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or emotion
    “Mom, there's nothing to eat in this house.” His voice is gruff because he doesn't know any other way to speak.
  4. disgruntled
    in a state of sulky dissatisfaction
    Taro makes a noise like a disgruntled cow, and then he looks at me.
  5. reel
    wind onto or off a revolving spool
    Something tugs inside my chest, like there’s a hook pierced into my heart and Mom’s words are reeling me back to her.
  6. auburn
    (of hair) colored a moderate reddish-brown
    Emery tucks a curl of auburn hair behind her ear.
  7. dismissive
    showing indifference or disregard
    "Okay." I shrug dismissively.
  8. inadvertently
    without knowledge or intention
    I think of her going through my yearbook, inadvertently reminding me how I’ll never be as pretty as the other girls at school, how pretty she was when she was my age, how I’ll never be as pretty as her, and I suddenly want to be anywhere other than my own house.
  9. endure
    face and withstand with courage
    I think our contests hurt him more than he ever wanted to admit, but Dad doesn't complain. He's a peacekeeper—he endures.
  10. sensitive
    being susceptible to the attitudes or feelings of others
    Mom always says it's because I'm overly sensitive, but I can't help it. I don't have a box to hide my emotions the way Shoji does.
  11. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
    She takes her time, mulling it over like she's considering something important.
  12. ulterior
    lying beyond what is openly revealed or avowed
    Mom laughs and turns another page of the yearbook. “You think there's an ulterior motive for everything nice I do.”
  13. squeamish
    easily disturbed or disgusted by unpleasant things
    I'm so jittery and squeamish and cold that I feel like I’m going to die.
  14. meek
    evidencing little spirit or courage
    “Hey,” I say meekly.
  15. flounder
    have difficulties; behave awkwardly
    “I’ll be right back,” she says, and as soon as she disappears into the next room, I feel like someone has yanked my social crutch out from under my arm. I'm floundering.
  16. aftershock
    a tremor following the main tremor of an earthquake
    It feels like two comets have just collided headfirst into each other, and the aftershock of two hundred earthquakes rolls through my chest.
  17. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    I feel my face flush with an overwhelming amount of heat.
  18. overwhelming
    very intense
    I feel my face flush with an overwhelming amount of heat.
  19. deplete
    use up, as resources or materials
    I feel like my energy is rapidly depleting.
  20. cringe
    draw back, as with fear, pain, or embarrassment
    “No. I don’t drink either,” I say, cringing.
  21. insistent
    repetitive and persistent
    I try to pull my wrist away. “I don’t think we’re supposed to go in here.”
    But he pulls back insistently.
  22. intrusive
    tending to enter uninvited
    It doesn’t feel cool—it feels intrusive and like I’m going to get yelled at by the owner at any minute for being in their bedroom and oh my God why are we in a bedroom?
  23. frayed
    worn away or tattered along the edges
    They jump from faded paint on the wall to frayed edges on the quilt cover to a David Letterman bobble-head on top of a stack of magazines, on top of an old record player.
  24. quirk
    a strange attitude or habit
    On anyone else, his eyebrows would look like a Muppet character. But on him, they don't look weird—his face just makes sense, quirks and all.
  25. downplay
    understate the importance or quality of
    I try to tell her about Adam and Jamie, but both stories are on such drastically different ends of the emotional spectrum that I can't seem to get the words out without downplaying one or the other.
  26. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    Adam runs a hand through his blond waves and grimaces. “It’s nothing personal. It's just—you know, my parents—and I had too much to drink—”
  27. kiln
    a furnace for firing, burning, or drying porcelain or bricks
    There’s not enough time left in the year to get anything in the kiln, so those of us who bothered to show up to ceramics at all have been left to our own devices.
  28. acquired
    gotten through environmental forces
    “I don't want someone to like me because I'm exotic,'” I say. “It makes it sound like I'm an acquired taste, or something someone tries once in a while.”
  29. tether
    tie with a rope
    “Thanks, Emery. You complete me.” And it's true, because I've tethered myself to Emery somehow.
  30. abrasive
    sharply disagreeable, unpleasant, or harsh
    My brother has never known how to get anyone’s attention without being abrasive and blunt and loud.
  31. blunt
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    My brother has never known how to get anyone’s attention without being abrasive and blunt and loud.
  32. abundance
    the property of a more than adequate quantity or supply
    Taro looks around my room, taking in the abundance of art prints I’ve collected over the years and the shelves of “creepy clay things” against the wall.
  33. silver lining
    a positive aspect of a difficult situation
    Maybe they are the silver lining. Maybe this means I can let go of some of the guilt.
  34. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    “Thanks,” I say sheepishly.
  35. reiterate
    say, state, or perform again
    Dad reminds me to come over more often, and Serena reiterates that she wants to see me more.
Created on Fri Sep 13 09:14:20 EDT 2019 (updated Thu Sep 19 10:23:57 EDT 2019)

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