12 Again: List 2

by Sue Corbett
After making a birthday wish, forty-year-old Bernadette wakes up as a twelve-year-old — and attends seventh grade with her son Patrick.

This list covers Bernadette's story, Late Afternoon, September 8–Thursday, October 15.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
35 words 15 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. curlicue
    a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles
    She’d mix butter, sugar, and food coloring into a canvas funnel and squeeze swirls and curlicues and roses onto layer cakes.
  2. warble
    sing or play with trills
    She could hear her mother’s high-pitched warbling from the laundry room.
  3. materialize
    come into being; become reality
    The kettle was in full screech when her mother materialized.
  4. appraise
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    In her room, she used a fine-tip black pen to change her birth date from 1960 to 1988, closing the top loop in the six and dividing the zero in half. She looked at it appraisingly. The only chance she had to pass it off as real was to make a photocopy of it, rather than giving Mrs. Piazza the original.
  5. conspiratorial
    relating to or characteristic of a secret plot or agreement
    “I am so sorry about your mother,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper.
  6. aback
    by surprise
    Patrick was taken aback by her question. He wondered how she knew about his mother.
  7. catechism
    an elementary book summarizing the principles of a religion
    She taught catechism at his church.
  8. gully
    a deep ditch cut by running water
    He splashed along the path back to the main building, dragging his feet through the gullies.
  9. scuttle
    hinder or prevent, as an effort, plan, or desire
    The rain must have scuttled whatever plan the teacher had, because it looked like a free-choice day.
  10. etiquette
    rules governing socially acceptable behavior
    On Friday, Ms. Dobbs had walked them through setting up e-mail accounts and Internet etiquette and rules, which, if broken, would get you kicked out of Computer Literacy.
  11. outlandish
    noticeably or extremely unconventional or unusual
    The worst part of the day involved getting dressed, as Bernadette struggled to assemble from her wardrobe of thirty-year-old clothing the least outlandish combination possible.
  12. antic
    a playful, attention-getting act done for fun and amusement
    The antics of a few boys, rocking back and forth in their chairs, vrooming their desks from side to side, suspending pencils from nostrils, clearly unnerved some teachers to the point that little teaching got done.
  13. reagent
    a substance for use in chemical reactions
    Mr. Grizzard, who taught chemistry, spent more time rearranging students to separate troublemakers than he did on his lesson plan. In chemistry, however, this was important, as the combination of boys and certain reagents was highly combustible.
  14. entrepreneurial
    willing to take risks in order to make a profit
    Those who immigrated to our shores were the ‘cream of the crop’ in their own countries, full of the entrepreneurial spirit, headed to the ‘land of opportunity’ to seek their fortunes.
  15. assimilate
    make alike
    Mr. Posnak continued, talking about the steps taken to “assimilate” Africans—taking away their names and their language, prohibiting them from marrying, breaking up families on the auction block.
  16. customary
    commonly used or practiced
    When Bernadette came out of her daydream, she had missed a hundred years of history. Mr. Posnak was in his customary gallop through time.
  17. porous
    allowing passage in and out
    By the end of the class, Mr. Posnak was talking about Haitian refugees and Cuban rafters, the porous Tex-Mex border and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.
  18. hamper
    a basket usually with a cover
    Kevin won't put his dirty clothes in the hamper.
  19. earful
    an outpouring of gossip
    We have to write a paper on our family's "immigration history." That made me miss Grandma because I know she would give me an earful.
  20. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    The word “channeling” had stopped her pen. A month ago she would have laughed, too, because she was highly skeptical of supposedly paranormal phenomena. But something supernatural had certainly happened to her.
  21. clique
    an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
    Annmarie had taken it upon herself to try to explain who was who among the seventh-grade social cliques.
  22. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    The two linked arms and sauntered off.
  23. scour
    examine minutely
    There was a lock on her mother’s garden shed, but though she had scoured the house, she couldn’t find the key for it.
  24. novelty
    originality by virtue of being refreshingly new
    Patrick was thankful, because the novelty of cooking for his brothers had worn off, especially since half the time they wouldn’t eat what he made.
  25. misdeed
    improper or wicked or immoral behavior
    He had been expecting the nightly lecture about his daily misdeeds: Could he please not fight with Kevin? Could he please do his chores before the amp went on?
  26. satellite
    a person who follows or serves another
    “Shhh, here she comes with her satellite.”
    “Satellite?” Bernadette asked.
    “Kristen Douglas,” Donna whispered. “She’s in orbit around the fabulous Victoria Cavendish.”
    “And she has about as much personality as a satellite, too,” Ally said.
  27. lope
    run easily
    Ally didn’t have any difficulty talking while she loped alongside.
  28. instinctive
    unthinking
    Bernadette tipped her head backward and instinctively closed her eyes.
  29. metaphysical
    pertaining to the philosophical study of being and knowing
    The night before she had read a book on “metaphysical vision questing,” a process of meditation, proper breathing, and yoga poses that would allow you to revisit parts of your life that needed “correcting” or “resolution.”
  30. spoke
    a rod joining the hub of a wheel to the rim
    Ally’s cartwheels were things of beauty. She looked like the big front wheel of an old locomotive, spokes turning in slow measures.
  31. typhoid
    infection marked by intestinal inflammation and ulceration
    Hundreds of thousands of people starved to death, or died of cholera or typhoid, which are diseases.
  32. scanty
    lacking in extent or quantity
    Halfway through October, a warm wind whisked leaves from the trees, their branches scantily clad in brilliant bronze and vivid yellow.
  33. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    Bernadette was thinking. She didn’t realize she was staring until Annmarie’s voice pulled her out of her reverie.
  34. feign
    give a false appearance of
    "Who?" Bernadette asked, feigning surprise.
  35. virtually
    slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
    “The food here gets worse every day. If you’re a vegetarian, there is virtually nothing to eat.”
Created on Thu Aug 19 11:09:55 EDT 2021 (updated Wed Aug 25 10:05:34 EDT 2021)

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