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When the World Turned Upside Down: Chapters 11–21

Fourth graders Shayla, Liam, Ben, and Ai struggle to adjust to quarantine life in their New York City apartment building during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–21, Chapters 22–35
25 words 14 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    Ben flushed with embarrassment. He felt heat on the back of his neck where he imagined Shayla and Ai were staring at him.
  2. irresponsible
    showing lack of care for consequences
    “Go to your room and write down why it was irresponsible of you and your friends to go into Mrs. Connor’s apartment, then write an apology to me and your mother.”
  3. ruffle
    disturb the smoothness of
    Then she ruffled his hair and smiled at him.
  4. isolation
    a state of separation between persons or groups
    Without a word, even while they were stuck in two different apartments, Ai had managed to bring fun into Shayla’s isolation—and make Daisy’s life better too.
  5. unravel
    become undone
    Before quarantine, any time he heard their voices rise, tight and spiky with anger, he could put on his shoes and go to the park, visit friends, even roam the hallways—do anything but listen to their love unraveling.
  6. cascade
    rush down in big quantities
    The sheets cascaded down from his tower and puddled down to the floor.
  7. blissful
    completely happy and contented
    He rested Bucky on the floor and settled down on the pillows to enjoy his hideaway. For twenty blissful minutes, he watched Bucky crawl around and read comics using the flashlight on his phone.
  8. plead
    appeal or request earnestly
    When she turned back, Ben finally looked at her—really looked at her, his eyes pleading for her to tell him the truth.
  9. tapestry
    a wall hanging of heavy fabric with pictorial designs
    He slept, softly snoring underneath the huge tapestry hanging on the wall above the couch.
  10. embroidery
    decorative needlework
    The colorful embroidery on the tapestry showed the tree of life blossoming with leaves and beautiful flowers.
  11. renegade
    a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause
    “After you went renegade? That’s not how quarantine works.”
  12. speckle
    a small contrasting part of something
    She had drawn the swirling ocean with a mix of bright and dark blues. The sandy beach with speckles of peach and brown and yellow.
  13. anticipation
    an expectation
    Her boredom had transformed into anticipation as she hunkered down in her bedroom and stared at her phone. What will happen now? she wondered.
  14. practically
    almost; nearly
    Ai was so excited, he could practically hear her bouncing around as she talked.
  15. giddy
    exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits
    He had never been the first person invited to anything. A rush of giddiness suddenly took over his body.
  16. casually
    in an unconcerned manner
    How could it be true that she could be casually killed and her murder would mean less than the death of one of her friends?
  17. crabby
    annoyed and irritable
    “Well?” she asked in a voice that was as crabby as the frown on her face.
  18. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    She was pushing a rickety orange cart with a huge clunky laptop on top of it.
  19. mocking
    expressing contempt or ridicule
    “Is it too much work for you?” Ai asked in a mocking tone. “I would have thought you would have loads of free time now that you’re not running after Megan and Gemma anymore.”
  20. logistics
    supplying an operation with labor and materials as needed
    He tried to imagine the logistics of the super’s work. There were fifteen floors in the building. How could one person take care of everything?
  21. mimic
    imitate, especially for satirical effect
    “The aliens have invaded. Height: Smaller than one inch. Powers: Can eat through concrete and metal. Weapon: Special alien-melting potion. Mission: Clear bunker of aliens. End of message. Message self-destruct set for five, four, three, two, one.” “Boom,” they all said together, mimicking the sound of the message exploding.
  22. neutralize
    get rid of by killing
    “Aliens neutralized on top floor. I repeat, aliens neutralized on top floor,” he said.
  23. dolly
    a wheeled handcart for moving heavy objects
    She grabbed the dolly from the hallway and helped as everyone else wrestled the box onto it.
  24. blare
    make a loud noise
    With that kind of jazz, Shayla never knew what she would hear. The horn might blare like a freight train or squeal like a cat.
  25. cue
    give a signal, prompt, or reminder
    Mr. Grove cued Ben to join in and he started hopping up and down, shaking a big gourd that was covered with beads.
Created on Wed Mar 23 10:17:05 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Apr 01 14:38:11 EDT 2022)

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