My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich: Chapters 25–39

by Ibi Zoboi
Science fiction fan Ebony-Grace struggles to adjust when she leaves her sheltered life in Huntsville, Alabama to spend the summer with her father in New York City.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–16, Chapters 17–24, Chapters 25–39
35 words 60 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. smirk
    a smile expressing smugness or scorn instead of pleasure
    Bianca has a smirk on her face.
  2. poltergeist
    a ghost that creates disorder and noise
    "...When’s the last time you saw a ghost on TV?”
    “Poltergeist on the television from my granddaddy’s videocassette recorder.”
    “Why you gotta brag all the time? Anyway, that wasn’t a ghost, that was a demon.”
  3. noble
    having high or elevated character
    Nichelle Neptune, I’d call her. Nichelle Nebula. Or Nichelle, the noble Nubian queen, as Granddaddy would say.
  4. slab
    block consisting of a thick piece of something
    There isn’t a single tree or shrub or blade of grass pushing its way out of slabs of concrete on the ground.
  5. genesis
    a coming into being
    “Genesis is life from lifelessness.” That’s what Dr. Carol Marcus said in Star Trek II when she explained what the Genesis Device was. She also said a lot about reorganizing matter on a subatomic level, but the main thing was the Genesis Device could make dead places live.
  6. raspy
    unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
    “But she can’t be chilling with us looking like that,” Coconut Collette says with her deep, raspy voice and steps closer to me.
  7. signify
    make known with a word or signal
    The boys from the middle of the lot hear Monique’s big mouth and run toward us because even I can recognize a signifying monkey when it’s standing right in front of me.
  8. unison
    the act of occurring together or simultaneously
    The five minions who were crouching down get up and pose with their arms folded, and the five who were standing crouch down in perfect unison. They must’ve practiced for a long time to get that right.
  9. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    “Uh-huh,” Rum Raisin Rhonda says. “Y’all wanna be the Furious Five, but y’all more like the Tedious Ten!”
  10. medallion
    a round piece of metal given as an award or commemoration
    “Uh-huh. PJ’s gonna be walking ’round here with the fat gold chain and medallion.”
  11. sassy
    improperly forward or bold
    She’s as sassy as they come.
  12. switch
    a flexible implement used as an instrument of punishment
    "...Where do you keep the switch?” I say, glaring back at him.
  13. shuffle
    walk by dragging one's feet
    I shuffle to the kitchen thinking of what fib I was going to put together for Momma.
  14. prime
    first in rank or degree
    “Starfleet! All right, now. If you wanna go there with all this Genesis Device stuff, just remember...the Prime Directive.”
  15. interfere
    get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action
    Then I say, “Ohhh. We can’t interfere with alien cultures on other planets. No Joke City is a whole other planet, and as strange and broke as it is, I can’t change it, right?”
  16. reluctantly
    with a certain degree of unwillingness
    Reluctantly, I follow Daddy out of the brownstone.
  17. compromise
    expose or make liable to danger, suspicion, or disrepute
    I’ve been compromised, Captain Fleet.
  18. unmanned
    lacking a crew
    The Uhura is unmanned and I’ve been teleported by the force field Sonic Boom and I cannot escape!
  19. ionic
    containing or involving electrically charged particles
    There’s been a malfunction with the transporter caused by an ionic storm.
  20. rally
    a large gathering of people intended to arouse enthusiasm
    And yes, it is the Atomic Sonic Boom—louder and prouder than James Brown at a Black Panther rally.
  21. bellow
    shout loudly and without restraint
    As loud as a Hendrix guitar solo, yessir! As proud as Aretha’s big, bellowing voice singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
  22. gleam
    shine brightly, like a star or a light
    I watch everybody’s faces like a hundred suns gleaming bright.
  23. speckle
    mark with small spots
    The storms spin to the beat of the music, and in no time at all, the cardboard becomes a giant black void speckled with stars and tiny Milky Ways.
  24. commotion
    confused movement
    There’s a lot of talk and commotion. People are confused about the contest having no prize.
  25. proceeds
    the income or profit arising from a transaction
    There’s an emptied-out milk jug that now holds a red liquid, a stack of plastic cups, and a sign that reads KOOL-AID 10 CENTS, ALL PROCEEDS 2 BENEFIT THE 9 FLAVAS CREW.
  26. bicker
    argue over petty things
    Before Diane and Monique start bickering, I go around the table to Bianca and say, “I can help.”
  27. improvise
    manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand
    Granddaddy told me that when those astronauts on Apollo 13 realized the plan to go to the moon wasn’t going to work, they made a new plan. They thought fast and they improvised with whatever they had on hand.
  28. molten
    reduced to liquid form by heating
    If there was a Sonic Boom right now, it would be a bunch of exploding curses oozing in molten lava dripping over this part of No Joke City.
  29. dissolve
    cause to fade away
    These stories were all starting to look and feel like those white, fluffy clouds—slowly moving away and pulling apart and dissolving like cotton candy at the county fair.
  30. blare
    make a loud noise
    A boy walks down the block holding a boom box over his shoulders, blaring some more of that rap music, and this time it’s a song I recognize from the block party: “Jam On It” by Newcleus—like the center of an atom, where all the energy is stored.
  31. tenant
    someone who pays rent to use property owned by someone else
    Word on the block is that Daddy’s looking for a new tenant, someone who could pay and look out for his baby girl.
  32. disarray
    untidiness, especially of clothing and appearance
    Momma told Daddy that I needed to wait a couple more days before coming down because things were in disarray.
  33. slur
    utter indistinctly
    Just ’cause Daddy’s words were slurred from his sore jaw, Momma thought he was hard of hearing, too.
  34. engage
    keep involved
    Once we’ve made the jump to hyperspace (no throwing up this time), I engage the autopilot.
  35. turbulence
    instability in the atmosphere
    Suddenly, the plane hits some turbulence and I open my eyes.
Created on Tue Sep 17 12:53:19 EDT 2019 (updated Wed Sep 18 15:58:25 EDT 2019)

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