Unit 1: Selection Vocabulary 1

An ugly sweater like that all raggedy and old, but Mrs. Price believes her.

In my head I'm thinking how long till lunchtime, how long till I can take the red sweater and throw it over the schoolyard fence, or leave it hanging on a parking meter, or bunch it up into a little ball and toss it in the alley.

"You put that sweater on right now and no more nonsense."

This is when I wish I wasn't eleven because all the years inside of me—ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one—are pushing at the back of my eyes when I put one arm through one sleeve of the sweater that smells like cottage cheese, and then the other arm through the other and stand there with my arms apart like if the sweater hurts me and it does, all itchy and full of germs that aren't even mine.

I wish I was invisible but I'm not.

I sounded very humble, but the truth’s the truth.

I’d written it at the Flint Public Library and was very careful not to use the dictionary or the thesaurus too much. And I didn’t digress at all.

It wasn’t long before we stopped looking fresh and had seniority in camp.

Stew said I had a bubbly personality so she had me help the new children get used to living here.

I'd hand him the dish after I’d washed it and when my hand touched his he’d start blinking a lot and would get twitchity and fumble the cloth when he tried to dry the dish.