Frankie & Bug: List 2

by Gayle Forman
Middle graders Bug and Frankie form a close friendship when they team up to uncover the identity of the LA-area criminal called the Midnight Marauder.

This list covers "Muscle Beach"–"The Alley."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
30 words 33 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. jubilant
    full of high-spirited delight
    Bug was jubilant. If Danny was watching them, that meant they were going to the beach!
  2. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    “I’ve never seen a girl look like that,” Frankie said, watching Vanessa hold herself in a plank, her muscles taut and bulging, her veins as sinewy as ropes.
  3. sinewy
    possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
    “I’ve never seen a girl look like that,” Frankie said, watching Vanessa hold herself in a plank, her muscles taut and bulging, her veins as sinewy as ropes.
  4. retort
    answer back
    “Who’s this?” Randy asked.
    “That’s Frankie,” Danny said. “Bug’s friend.”
    “He’s not my friend!” Bug retorted, but no one paid her any mind.
  5. denunciation
    a public act of condemnation
    “You can’t catch the Midnight Marauder with just strength,” Frankie said, unfazed by Bug’s denunciation.
  6. meticulous
    marked by precise accordance with details
    “Psychopaths are meticulous planners,” Frankie said. “Not impulsive. They have really high IQs. So it’s not enough to be strong or have weapons. You have to be smarter than them. To figure out their patterns. To understand them. If we can understand the Midnight Marauder, we can catch him.”
  7. impulsive
    characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
    “Psychopaths are meticulous planners,” Frankie said. “Not impulsive. They have really high IQs. So it’s not enough to be strong or have weapons. You have to be smarter than them. To figure out their patterns. To understand them. If we can understand the Midnight Marauder, we can catch him.”
  8. brawn
    the trait of possessing muscular strength
    “Naw, the kid’s right,” Duane said. “We need the brain and the brawn.” He looked at Frankie. “You figure out who he is. Then we’ll go take him down.”
  9. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    A homeless guy with matted hair was napping with his German shepherd by the drinking fountains.
  10. battalion
    a large indefinite number
    They turned left on Pacific, the carnival-like atmosphere of the boardwalk giving way to a more sedate stretch of stucco apartment buildings, palm trees, a battalion of VW surfer vans parked on the streets where it didn’t cost anything.
  11. agape
    with the mouth wide open as in wonder or awe
    Bug could see the school playground on her corner in the distance. The punks were hanging out there. She saw their bright-colored hair, their spiky Mohawks. Frankie saw them too, mouth agape.
  12. hermit
    one who lives in solitude
    The place was huge, as big as Bug’s entire building, only it belonged to one person: the Hermit. He almost never came out, but she’d seen him peering out of the window by the alley, long-haired, dead-eyed.
  13. pester
    annoy persistently
    He had also started pestering Mama about a trip to El Salvador to meet all the aunts and uncles who lived there, which Mama said they could do but not until the war there ended.
  14. formality
    compliance with set rules
    The waitress came by to take their orders, a formality because they always got the same thing.
  15. flounce
    a strip of pleated material used as a decoration or a trim
    Normally Bug loved the hot chocolate here, made with a powder that collected into a delicious paste at the bottom of the mug and topped with flounces of whipped cream.
  16. spate
    a large number or amount or extent
    “I hate you!” she cried at Danny. The words flew out, followed by a spate of hot tears because she loved Danny.
  17. exert
    put to use
    “I know they seem tough, but people who need to exert force to make themselves feel strong are weak. They’re scared people who need to scare people.” Mama shook her head and frowned.
  18. obsessed
    having excessive or compulsive concern with something
    According to Danny, their father played harmonica and sang and was obsessed with playing soccer, which he called football, and he could fall asleep anywhere and doodled, constantly, while he worked.
  19. petrify
    make rigid and set into a conventional pattern
    Bug grabbed a butter cookie with a petrified cherry in the middle, and right as she was about to bite into it, she saw herself: in Hedvig’s apartment, becoming an expert on soap operas, about to eat a snack from Hedvig’s pantry of doom.
  20. bungalow
    a small house with a single story
    Bug led Frankie to the Hermit House, stopping in front of the bungalow next door, painted turquoise and yellow, with surfboards on the porch.
  21. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    Gingerly, Frankie and Bug stepped onto the first square of the Hermit’s sidewalk.
  22. molder
    decay or break down
    He didn’t use his front door. This was Frankie’s discovery. He’d noticed the leaves and takeout menus and ads for discount car washes, all moldering on the porch. Which suggested that no one ever came or went by the front door.
  23. begrudge
    allow unwillingly or reluctantly
    “More like twenty,” Bug muttered. Danny’s showers were endless these days, using all the hot water. Still, she wasn’t going to begrudge him now that he was being nice.
  24. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    She sighed heavily. “We’re gonna stay here.”
    She waited for Danny to argue, to cajole her. But he just shrugged and said, “Suit yourself.”
  25. venture
    put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation
    “If we were allowed out today, we could investigate more,” Bug ventured.
  26. odometer
    instrument in a vehicle that measures the distance traveled
    “If the miles on the odometer go up after an attack, that’s our proof,” Bug explained.
  27. surveillance
    close observation of a person or group
    “Just getting some surveillance tools,” Bug said as they bounded up the stairs to her apartment.
  28. proximity
    the property of being close together
    Bug couldn’t tell if it was because of the skating or the proximity to the Hermit House, but her own stomach was in snakes.
  29. flail
    thrash about
    Frankie took off down the alley. He shuffled more than skated, his hands flailing at his sides.
  30. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    Frankie just sat there, stoic. Even when Hedvig finished up and dabbed his whole knee with rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol stung so bad!
Created on Thu Feb 03 20:04:50 EST 2022 (updated Thu Feb 10 14:31:10 EST 2022)

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