Merci Suárez Can’t Dance: Chapters 1–6

by Meg Medina
In this second book of the trilogy, Merci is dismayed, despite coming from a family of dancers, that Seaward Pines Academy's tradition for building teamwork among seventh graders is the Heart Ball.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–19, Chapters 20–33, Chapters 34–49
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. icebreaker
    an initial activity to relax a tense or formal atmosphere
    He swings one hip forward so his right leg can clear the ground. He says it doesn’t hurt or anything. He was born that way, he told us last year during one of those annoying icebreaker activities we’re all subjected to on the first day of school.
  2. loafer
    a low leather shoe with no laces
    Miss McDaniels grabbed her key ring and made us follow her down the hall toward the cafeteria, our loafers squeaking in the quiet halls.
  3. formerly
    at a previous time
    A few minutes later, we stood in front of the Ram Depot, formerly known as the custodial supply closet before Mr. Vong and his equipment got upgraded to a bigger room near the gym.
  4. hone
    refine or make more perfect or effective
    “You can hone your business and math skills right here and get real-world experience.”
  5. glare
    an angry stare
    I tried to keep my glare of death to a minimum level.
  6. appalled
    struck with dread, shock, or dismay
    I was facing a dungeon where fun goes to die—and with a boy as my only company no less.
    Wilson seemed just as appalled.
  7. grim
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    I gave her a grim look. “You’d need miracle workers, miss, not us.”
  8. practically
    almost; nearly
    I could practically feel the air around us grow colder as she narrowed her eyes, digging in.
  9. churlish
    having a bad disposition; surly
    Being churlish, as she says, is at the top of her list of no-no’s, especially for seventh-graders.
  10. obnoxious
    causing disapproval or protest
    He’ll spend a whole class saying obnoxious things so that you’ll look at him, even if it’s with murder in your eyes.
  11. qualification
    an attribute that must be met or complied with
    Wilson, it turns out, is not like that at all, and this job is not the worst thing that could happen to a person. His top qualifications so far: He doesn’t make mean comments about my lazy eye and then complain that I can’t take a joke.
  12. revamp
    patch up or renovate; repair or restore
    Plus, he’s basically a human calculator, which is good when you’re trying to revamp a total disaster of a business like we are.
  13. scuff
    mar or wear away by rubbing or scraping
    His shoes are badly scuffed, especially his right one, the one that’s wider on account of the brace he wears to keep his toes from dragging down.
  14. telltale
    disclosing unintentionally
    The soles are caked with wet grass, too, a telltale sign that he didn’t stay on the walkways like we’re supposed to as per the gazillion signs about keeping our campus beautiful.
  15. infraction
    a violation of a law or rule
    That’s a level-one offense in Miss McDaniels’s book. And I would know since I’m more or less a regular on walkway infractions.
  16. dense
    having high compaction or concentration
    At least it’s better than Mami’s healthy turkey breast with alfalfa sprouts “for fun,” which she says are “nutrient dense.”
  17. stickler
    someone who insists on something
    “Did we have a meeting to decide that? Let me think...NO.”
    I push the hair off my face and roll my eyes. He’s such a stickler about things.
  18. scrawl
    write carelessly
    Numbers are scrawled all over the place because sometimes it takes me a few minutes to work something out.
  19. quad
    a rectangular area surrounded on all sides by buildings
    I suggested our own version of American Ninja Warrior right here on the quad. I provided detailed diagrams of the challenge course and everything.
  20. rappel
    lower oneself with a rope coiled around the body from a mountainside
    I got fifty signatures of kids who wanted to rappel down the science building, but still she squashed my dream flat.
  21. gorge
    overeat or eat immodestly
    My plan is to watch an Iguanador Nation movie that night and gorge on the big box of assorted Russell Stover chocolates that Mami and Papi always give me for Valentine’s Day.
  22. assorted
    consisting of a haphazard variety of different kinds
    My plan is to watch an Iguanador Nation movie that night and gorge on the big box of assorted Russell Stover chocolates that Mami and Papi always give me for Valentine’s Day.
  23. amenable
    disposed or willing to comply
    “Fine. If that makes it more amenable for the two of you, we’ll do that. The accounting will reflect your participation and support.”
  24. gouge
    swindle; obtain by coercion
    “They might price gouge at Poxel, but we’re not here to take advantage of people.”
  25. exasperated
    greatly annoyed; out of patience
    “But, miss—” I give her an exasperated look. “What about charging what the market will bear?”
  26. ethics
    motivation based on ideas of right and wrong
    “This is a business, remember?”
    “Yes, and one with ethics. I think ten dollars is appropriate.”
  27. invoice
    an itemized statement of money owed for goods or services
    Meanwhile, Wilson is looking over the invoice. “Don’t worry, Merci. It says here that they cost us three dollars each. That would be a profit of about three hundred and thirty-three percent,” he says.
  28. chisel
    an edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge
    Her heels click like little chisels as she makes her way across the room.
  29. bondage
    the state of being under the control of another person
    “Waiting for my eight hours of daily bondage to be over.”
  30. kaput
    destroyed or completely broken
    It’s not so they can pay for a car repair like last year, when the transmission in their Corolla went kaput.
  31. haywire
    not functioning properly
    I’d gladly stop growing, but everything inside of me has gone haywire. I wear a size eight shoe, which Mami tells everyone is bigger than hers, and I’ve started getting pimples on my forehead, even when I scrub my face at night with a washcloth until my skin shines.
  32. flit
    move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
    She smooths her uniform, and her eyes flit down to her support socks with a small hole in the big toe.
  33. straggler
    someone who strays or falls behind
    We’re sitting on the dark wooden benches that are usually reserved for kids who’ve gotten in trouble, so we’re getting stares from the nosy stragglers who need late passes.
  34. delegate
    give an assignment to or assign a task to
    I tried to explain—nicely—that I was delegating the ad-writing duty to him.
  35. engage
    carry out or participate in an activity
    I refuse to engage in deceptive advertising.
  36. detritus
    loose material that is worn away from rocks
    He even counts spelling on the hardest scientific words. Detritus. Metamorphosis. Speleologist.
  37. assume
    take to be the case or to be true
    Anyway, Mr. Ellis called on me nonstop at first, assuming I must be a genius, too. It took him almost a month to figure out the sad truth.
  38. flushed
    reddened as if with blood from emotion or exertion
    She’s out of breath as she reaches us. Her cheeks are flushed, and her shirt is untucked.
  39. gangrene
    the localized death of living cells
    What I remember most, though, is that she told us the boy’s mom had lost one of her legs to a sickness called gangrene.
  40. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    Before I can argue, she turns and dashes down the hall after Edna, who’s already sprinting around the corner on the gangly legs that she’s gotten this year.
Created on Tue Jun 18 11:50:11 EDT 2024 (updated Wed Jun 19 13:31:56 EDT 2024)

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