Anger Is a Gift: Chapters 22–28

by Mark Oshiro
After his father is killed, Moss struggles with anxiety and panic attacks. Increasingly frustrated by violence and injustice at his underfunded Oakland high school, he tries to harness his anger to bring about meaningful change in his community.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–14, Chapters 15–21, Chapters 22–28, Chapters 29–39
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. asinine
    devoid of intelligence
    In last year’s astronomy course, girls would often giggle and ask Mr. Roberts any asinine question they could just so he’d speak to them.
  2. incoherent
    without logical or meaningful connection
    Moss heard the squeak of sneakers on tile, then voices raised in alarm, incoherent and high-pitched.
  3. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    He was at the threshold of one of the English classrooms, his eyes wide with shock, and Kaisha stood behind his chair, a smile on her face.
  4. discern
    perceive, recognize, or detect
    It was difficult to discern individual phrases or words in the din that echoed down that long hallway, but they knew something had gone horribly wrong when the kids at the back of the pack turned suddenly and began sprinting toward them.
  5. clad
    wearing or provided with clothing
    Moss and his friends watched, frozen in place, as two cops clad in all black chased after the fleeing students, one of them with a baton raised in the air.
  6. unnerve
    disturb the composure of
    Moss found it unnerving that every classroom he passed was either fully empty or had its door closed. Where was everyone?
  7. misshapen
    so badly formed or distorted as to be ugly
    Her face was wrong, misshapen.
  8. mousy
    quiet, timid, and ineffectual
    And behind Javier, a shy boy, young and mousy, his hair black, his skin a light brown, peering out at Moss.
  9. writhing
    moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
    Moss stood up, looking at the two kids writhing and vomiting on the floor.
  10. imposing
    impressive in appearance
    His focus was now on the group of people he’d not been able to see from so far away: a line of imposing cops in riot gear who stood in front of the gate.
  11. mirth
    great merriment
    Javier laughed, his voice full of mirth. “You can’t do anything to me,” he said, amused.
  12. agape
    with the mouth wide open as in wonder or awe
    His mouth was agape and the blood was pumping out of him slower and slower, and Moss couldn’t stop screaming.
  13. forlorn
    marked by or showing hopelessness
    His beanie had come off, sat forlorn beside his head.
  14. respite
    a pause for relaxation
    “How can someone just disappear like that?” Reg asked as the news began to report on traffic conditions, a welcome respite.
  15. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
    “It’s an insidious thing,” Wanda said. “It never happens overnight...."
  16. brooch
    a decorative pin
    He stopped talking and watched the weather forecast, focusing on any detail he could. The broadcaster’s tiny brooch. Was it an owl?
  17. banter
    light teasing repartee
    He watched the two anchors exchange banter with each other.
  18. stifle
    smother or suppress
    “Get Well Soon!” it urged, and the terrible inappropriateness of it forced him to stifle a giggle.
  19. succumb
    give in, as to overwhelming force, influence, or pressure
    They embraced and then Eugenia succumbed to her sobs.
  20. beeline
    the most direct route
    Eugenia stood up suddenly and made a beeline for Javier’s room.
  21. seemingly
    from appearances alone
    Wanda nodded at Moss, so he crossed the carpet slowly, his legs seemingly unable to move without conscious thought.
  22. pensive
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    There was a poster for a movie called But I’m a Cheerleader, a young white girl looking at Moss from the center of it, a pensive expression on her face.
  23. fathom
    come to understand
    No, please don’t let it be true, Moss thought, and then he was utterly unable to look at Javier’s drawing of him, unable to fathom a world where so much potential had been snuffed out, unable to want anything else but Javier, right there and right now.
  24. scorn
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    “Oh, then you definitely need to read it,” said Njemile, full of scorn.
  25. pundit
    an expert who publicly gives opinions via mass media
    As Kaisha began to talk about the injuries, as she shared quotes from the Oakland Police Department, from pundits and online blogs, as other students began to tell their own stories, show off their injuries and wounds, Moss’s attention floated away.
  26. exploit
    use or manipulate to one's advantage
    And you know I don’t want anyone to exploit the tragedy of this just for the sake of activism.
  27. poise
    great coolness and composure under strain
    Her poise was firm, direct, and carried an authority to it.
  28. eschew
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    He clapped in between each word, eschewing the microphone, shouting as loud as he could.
  29. parse
    analyze the sentence structure of
    He heard Kaisha and Reg say something to him, but he couldn’t parse the words, and it was like all the oxygen in the room had been sucked out.
  30. facade
    the front of a building
    He put his hand up against the stone facade of Blessed Way to steady himself, to stop the darkness from swallowing him whole.
  31. absolve
    excuse or free from blame
    No clever speech would make Moss feel better. No plan to take down the Oakland Police Department would absolve his heart.
  32. rueful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    They laughed, a rueful sound.
  33. peruse
    examine or consider with attention and in detail
    She flipped it open and began to peruse the table of contents.
  34. induce
    cause to arise
    “It’s kinda cool in a terrifying way, I guess. Messes with your sense of balance, apparently, all through a wave of high-frequency noise that most adults can’t hear. It usually induces nausea in younger folks. The guy who showed it to me said they use it occasionally in protests to temper the crowd.”
  35. epiphany
    a usually sudden insight, perception, or understanding of something
    Moss squirmed in his seat, the uncomfortable epiphany still radiating through him.
  36. smug
    marked by excessive complacency or self-satisfaction
    “He’s sitting here all smug, making cute little jokes about iPods and talkin’ ‘bout how scared he is of losing his job, but is he actually helping?”
  37. petulant
    easily irritated or annoyed
    Moss raised the files above his head and slammed them down on the ground. It was petulant, he knew it, but he still watched them spread out on the floor, their contents spilling everywhere, and it gave him a momentary sense of satisfaction.
  38. catharsis
    purging of emotional tensions
    A ripple of nervous laughter rolled through the church, a catharsis for Moss.
  39. transpire
    come about, happen, or occur
    His mother knelt beside him to help as the others began to chatter away about what had just transpired.
  40. sheaf
    a package of several things tied together
    She handed him a sheaf of pages.
Created on Wed Jun 12 09:34:55 EDT 2019 (updated Fri Jun 14 15:22:53 EDT 2019)

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