The Jake Show: Chapters 5–10

by Joshua S. Levy
Torn between his divorced parents, thirteen-year-old Jacob Lightman imagines himself as different characters in a television show, but in reality, he wants to leave Florida to have fun with his friends at a Jewish summer camp in New York.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–10, Chapters 11–16, Chapters 17–26
40 words 12 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cul de sac
    a street with only one way in or out
    No idea what to say, I was saved by the boom of an old car sputtering into the cul-de-sac.
  2. vintage
    old but having enduring appeal or importance; classic
    And the finished garage was another level: In one corner—pool table, foosball, and Skee-Ball. In another—vintage arcade games like X-Men, Street Fighter III, and Turtles in Time.
  3. array
    lay out orderly or logically in a line or as if in a line
    The pictures were arrayed like spokes on a wheel, surrounding a glass-encased brochure for Camp Gershoni.
  4. gibberish
    unintelligible talking
    The voice in my head exploded. It was all gibberish and bad words; I won’t repeat it.
  5. practically
    almost; nearly
    At the Yeshiva, it was practically unthinkable. Certainly unspeakable. And while it was completely fine at the public school, JDS still had yarmulkes and rabbis. It was impossible to keep track of what was okay in all my different worlds.
  6. monocle
    lens for correcting defective vision in one eye
    “Oh!” Tehilla squealed, putting on a British accent. “All the bar mitzvah money! Shall I polish your monocle now, sir? Or wait until after you’ve counted your hundred-dollar bills?”
  7. clique
    an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
    There weren’t really any goth kids. But there was a clique of boys who wore black suits and black hats to school every day.
  8. wither
    lose freshness, vigor, or vitality
    I’d worried for a second that our friendship (or whatever it was) had withered in the two weeks away from school.
  9. sliver
    (figurative) a small or narrow piece or slice
    I’d been waiting all day to find a moment. Some rare sliver of time when Tehilla let Caleb out of her sight.
  10. warrant
    a judicial writ commanding police to perform specified acts
    “I’m the sheriff of these parts. And, um—” He held out his place card for the meal. “This warrant says you’re wanted in three counties!”
  11. decent
    sufficient for the purpose
    Decent dialogue, even if Caleb hadn’t watched as many old westerns as I had.
  12. bellow
    shout loudly and without restraint
    “Jake!” my dad bellowed from the entryway.
    In my head, a storm rolled through.
  13. refined
    suggesting taste, ease, and wealth
    Yaakov’s yeshiva dress looks elegant and refined in a way you could never understand.
  14. blowout
    a joyful festivity
    “I pay for things that make sense. You’re the one that insisted on this blowout for a thirteen-year-old’s birthday party. Had you wanted to spend eight thousand dollars—”
  15. frugal
    avoiding waste
    “We only spent six—”
    “How frugal. Had you wanted to spend six thousand dollars to enroll him in one of those after-school STEM programs I keep telling you about, or start a college account for him—”
  16. bland
    lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting
    They always make fun of TV bar mitzvah speeches. Bland nothings about how “Today, I am a man.” I didn’t even go that far. Left out my own name.
  17. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    From the table next to ours, a man hobbled up to the front of the room and replaced my mom at the mic.
  18. legacy
    anything handed down by someone or something in the past
    Most of all, I give you the blessing that you should continue preserving your heritage. You’re a bar mitzvah. You need to take responsibility for your actions. Take control over the things that are truly important. Carry on the legacy of Torah that I know your parents are committed to.
  19. dustup
    an angry dispute
    The argument at the entrance. The dustup with the speech.
  20. sensation
    an awareness of some type of stimulation
    Caleb and Tehilla looked at each other, wordlessly communicating like only two forever friends can. Caleb raised an eyebrow. Tehilla blew air into her cheeks. The jittery sensation of being the third wheel came rushing back.
  21. render
    show in, or as in, a picture
    Like we did for our Tzedakah project, we started by selecting a blank website template, this one called “Summertime Cookout.” It came with a font that rendered all uppercase letters as smoldering campfire logs.
  22. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    Like we did for our Tzedakah project, we started by selecting a blank website template, this one called “Summertime Cookout.” It came with a font that rendered all uppercase letters as smoldering campfire logs.
  23. renown
    the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed
    Schedule: Gemara; mashgiach training; Gemara; tzitzis making; Gemara; visits from “renown Chassidishe rebbes.”
  24. dedicated
    devoted to a cause or ideal or purpose
    Camp Yiddishkeit had its “well-stocked beis medrish,” the building dedicated to studying Torah.
  25. pore
    direct one's attention on something
    In Camp Yiddishkeit, pairs of campers in black hats pored over giant tomes.
  26. tome
    a large and scholarly book
    In Camp Yiddishkeit, pairs of campers in black hats pored over giant tomes.
  27. subtle
    difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
    I started subtle. Printed out pamphlets for both camps. Casually dropped them into piles of mail when no one was looking.
  28. casually
    not methodically or according to plan
    I started subtle. Printed out pamphlets for both camps. Casually dropped them into piles of mail when no one was looking.
  29. immerse
    devote fully to
    A chance for you to spend uninterrupted time immersed in the kind of life we want for you.
  30. stocky
    having a short and solid form or stature
    A villain is a villain. Someone you can spot from a mile away. They tower over you—all crooked noses and bad-guy top hats. Or maybe not. Maybe they’re short, but real stocky. Tree-trunk necks.
  31. sizable
    fairly large
    “My dad also made a sizable donation, didn’t you, Abba?”
  32. genuinely
    in accordance with truth or fact or reality
    “Well,” I said, genuinely believing that these exact words would make her feel better: “Really, you’re lucky. I had to work so hard to keep my parents away from this.”
  33. stint
    an unbroken period of time during which you do something
    The hard part was the airport in Florida. Because for some reason, both of my parents—all my parents—wanted to drop me off for my first stint at sleepaway camp.
  34. gawk
    look with amazement
    Caleb and Tehilla were gawking at me, jaws on the floor.
  35. deus ex machina
    an agent who appears unexpectedly to solve a difficulty
    Now, I didn’t know anything about miracles. But a deus ex machina wasn’t out of the question. You know, when some TV show or movie writes itself into a corner. There’s an impossible situation. All hope seems lost. And then—snap!—problem solved in some unexpected way.
  36. magistrate
    a lay judge or civil authority who administers the law
    I was sure they’d postpone the trial. But the magistrate judge denied our application to adjourn until September.
  37. adjourn
    break from a meeting or gathering
    I was sure they’d postpone the trial. But the magistrate judge denied our application to adjourn until September.
  38. bluff
    pretense that your position is stronger than it really is
    With Dad at work, Kayla bowed out of the running. My mom and Shmuel would take me to the airport themselves. No double-ticket bluff needed.
  39. terminal
    station where vehicles load or unload passengers or goods
    I’m already at Terminal C. Walk in as close as you can to Door 11.
  40. reminisce
    recall the past
    “Best summers of my life,” Shmuel said, reminiscing about his own time at camp.
Created on Wed Jun 05 15:41:28 EDT 2024 (updated Thu Jun 06 15:03:09 EDT 2024)

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