The Life I'm In: Chapters 1–30

by Sharon G. Flake
This novel explores the backstory of Charlese Jones, the bully from Flake's award-winning book, The Skin I'm In.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–30, Chapters 31–76, Chapters 77–102
20 words 244 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. remission
    an abatement in intensity or degree
    “Last year she had breast cancer. She’s in remission though.”
  2. swig
    a large and hurried swallow
    She take a swig, then another one, then finishes the bottle.
  3. turnpike
    an expressway on which tolls are collected
    The bus pull off the turnpike, rocking like a boat.
  4. hunch
    round one's back by bending forward
    Then I get back to him—a boy so tall he got to hunch over so his head don’t hit the ceiling.
  5. truant
    one who is absent from school without permission
    Truant officers came by our place on the regular.
  6. loafer
    a low leather shoe with no laces
    His loafers is doubled stitched at the sole.
  7. aspire
    have an ambitious plan or a lofty goal
    “Teacher?” Mrs. Gamble smiled. “Charlese, I hadn’t realized you aspired to that?”
  8. navel
    a scar where the umbilical cord was attached
    Doctors cut him from the middle of his back to his navel.
  9. transition
    a change from one place or state or subject to another
    “I know it’s been a difficult transition since leaving McClenton.”
  10. chlorophyll
    any of green pigments found in photosynthetic organisms
    Thinking on it some more, I ask, “How do milk turn white anyhow? Grass is green.” He talks like he a science teacher. Says something about proteins and intestines, chlorophyll.
  11. decent
    socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
    “William! Be decent.”
  12. intervene
    get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action
    “Who hasn’t had it hard?! This baby will have it hard too, if someone doesn’t intervene.”
  13. terminal
    station where vehicles load or unload passengers or goods
    “In just a little while we will be at the Greyhound bus terminal.”
  14. custom
    made according to the specifications of an individual
    He leases minivans and custom buses and takes people wherever they want to go, he say.
  15. tuition
    a fee paid for instruction, especially for higher education
    “I have two daughters. They need things—college tuition for starters.”
  16. contend
    come to terms with
    He said his wife work a full-time job and got her own kids to contend with, and she can’t shoulder nobody else’s burdens.
  17. kismet
    fate or fortune
    “It’s kismet.”
    “What?”
    “Meant to be. Me meeting you.”
  18. mosque
    a Muslim place of worship that usually has a minaret
    Sometime God be working things out in your favor. That’s something Juju be saying all the time now. Not that she go to church or the mosque.
  19. wreak
    cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
    There’s been some craziness with people running through grabbing things from the counter, “wreaking havoc,” he says.
  20. havoc
    violent and needless disturbance
    There’s been some craziness with people running through grabbing things from the counter, “wreaking havoc,” he says.
Created on Fri Oct 22 12:28:01 EDT 2021 (updated Mon Oct 25 16:11:17 EDT 2021)

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