Clap When You Land: List 2

by Elizabeth Acevedo
After their father dies in a plane crash, two sisters who never met must come to terms with each other's existence.

This list covers “Camino – Yahaira” to "Fifteen Days After".

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
30 words 594 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gentrification
    change in poorer areas due to an influx of wealthier people
    I got us into the newspapers & on late-night TV
    for something other than drugs or poor test scores or gentrification.
  2. obsidian
    glass formed by the cooling of lava without crystallization
    you are dark
    & always been beautiful:

    like the night, like a star after it bursts,
    like obsidian & onyx & jet precious.
  3. boisterous
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
    When they hold boisterous family parties,
    I’d rather be reading in my room.
  4. prune
    cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of
    Dre would be reading a fantasy novel
    or pruning a half-dead tomato plant...
  5. sow
    place seeds in or on the ground for future growth
    If you talk about hoing around,
    you’d see Dre blink as her mind goes down a

    long winding path of tilling dirt & sowing seeds.
  6. snide
    expressive of contempt
    Our words take on an edge,

    we speed talk like relay racers
    struggling to pass the baton to the next snide phrase.
  7. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    But Dre speaks to me slowly. Like I’ve seen her
    whisper to a drooping plant. Believing that her own breath

    can unfurl a dying leaf. Can sing it back to health.
    Can unwilt the stalk.
  8. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    I’ve never seen anyone make as much grow

    in a small pot on a fire escape as I’ve seen
    Dre coax small seeds to bud & flower here.
  9. armoire
    a large wardrobe or cabinet
    The day we first kissed,
    I walked into my parents’ bedroom

    & offered thanks to the little porcelain saint
    Papi kept on his armoire...
  10. premonition
    an early warning about a future event
    I don’t believe in magic
    or premonitions.
  11. forensics
    the use of scientific techniques in criminal investigations
    dental records
    anthropological forensics
    tattoos
    fingerprints
    teeth
    personal items
  12. assessment
    the act of judging a person or situation or event
    That their initial assessment was wrong
    That the Coast Guard found someone breathing.
  13. consuming
    very intense
    Consuming, huge, a love that takes the wheel,

    a love where I pretended to be something I wasn’t?
  14. poised
    in full control of your faculties
    Playing chess taught me a queen is both:

    deadly & graceful, poised & ruthless.
    Quiet & cunning.
  15. rosary
    a series of prayers counted using a string of beads
    Rosary beads pass through fingers, & the rosario repeats & repeats.
  16. divine
    perceive through some inexplicable perceptive powers
    Later, Tía will hold a private prayer in her bóveda out back;
    this is where she keeps her cowrie shells, where she will divine
    from the Saints the next steps we should take...
  17. deity
    a supernatural being worshipped as controlling the world
    We stack our faith up like spinal discs to hold us upright;
    it gives us language to fill our mouths & hearts & ears.
    Gives us deities to call on

    that might answer & bring my father home.
  18. preen
    pride or congratulate oneself for an achievement
    She laughed when her friend stuck out her hand, preened.
  19. aback
    by surprise
    Papi looked taken aback.
  20. flaunt
    display proudly
    She watched as her friend flaunted & flirted.
  21. resent
    wish ill or allow unwillingly
    Tía had always lived with us
    & she mothered me the best she could.
    Some folks would resent this.

    But even when Mamá was alive,
    Tía was the other
    mother of my heart.
  22. allocate
    distribute according to a plan or set apart for a purpose
    She says there are scholarships
    I would have had to apply to
    a semester ago;

    she says funds have been allocated.
  23. curdle
    go bad or sour
    The thought curdles, sour as bad milk.
  24. nape
    the back side of the neck
    For just a moment I grab my worries by the nape.
  25. accord
    concurrence of opinion
    On silent accord, Mami & I agree, we will not go back.
  26. logistics
    supplying an operation with labor and materials as needed
    When Tía Lidia & Mami go to her room to pray,
    Tía Mabel appoints herself the general of logistics,

    doing the things that Ma has been unable
    or unwilling to do.
  27. lament
    a cry of sorrow and grief
    It’s about lost love,

    & although it’s a breakup song,
    the lament to not think, to not cry,

    to not hurt for another man the singer
    feels like it could be speaking to this moment.
  28. gilded
    made from or covered with gold
    I try to find a picture that captures all of this,
    Papi in motion. Papi in space. Papi gilded.
  29. origami
    the art of folding paper
    My mother picks up the papers

    as if they will origami themselves into fangs.
  30. glaring
    extremely obvious or conspicuous
    But it’s always there.
    A glaring fault.
Created on Mon Jun 29 11:08:40 EDT 2020 (updated Fri Jul 10 17:08:04 EDT 2020)

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