Under the Blood-Red Sun: Chapters 15–22

by Graham Salisbury
During World War II, a Japanese-American boy must rely on his baseball teammates when his father and grandfather are arrested.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–14, Chapters 15–22
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. hesitant
    unable to act or decide quickly or firmly
    Mose looked at me and asked, hesitantly, “They treating you okay, Tomi?...They come arrest your father...and your grandfather?”
  2. ration
    distribute in fixed allowances
    Who had gasoline anymore? The army took it all and rationed a little bit to everyone else.
  3. vigorously
    in an energetic manner
    “We will,” Mose said, nodding his head vigorously.
  4. canteen
    a flask for carrying water; used by soldiers or travelers
    A leather strap crossed his chest, and the binoculars case rested on his hip, like a canteen.
  5. barge
    a flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads
    Pearl Harbor was busy with tiny men on boats and barges trying to bring the bombed ships back up.
  6. tact
    consideration in dealing with others
    “Somebody’s got to teach you a little tact.”
  7. indebted
    owing gratitude to another for help or favors
    Reiko tried to give them back, saying it was too much, but Billy wouldn’t take them. “It’s okay,” he said, not understanding how indebted it would make Reiko feel. She took some money out of her purse and tried to give it to Billy.
  8. barricade
    a barrier to impede the advance of an enemy
    All around the water—everywhere—were barbed wire barricades wound in twisted and jumbled coils from post to post, the wire going all over like it was spun by a lunatic spider.
  9. desolate
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    Across the harbor Sand Island looked so desolate, a ghostly spit of land and the now barely visible red-roofed building.
  10. churn
    be agitated
    I’d seen them moving ships up to the pier, huge, sucking propellers churning the ocean white behind them, making giant, ugly whirlpools.
  11. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    I crawled out and stumbled up the small beach to sprawl in some weeds.
  12. thicket
    a dense growth of bushes
    I crawled to a thicket of kiawe trees and studied what I could see of the white building.
  13. riddle
    spread or diffuse through
    The weeds broke onto a sandy field riddled with puddles.
  14. casual
    without or seeming to be without plan or method; offhand
    “Lie flat!” he commanded, then walked casually over to stand right across from me.
  15. thrum
    a low, continuous sound
    The thrum grew louder.
  16. grim
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    Ichiro went back to his team grim-faced.
  17. writhe
    move in a twisting or contorted motion
    Tough Boy fell to the ground and rolled around, writhing in pain.
  18. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    Ichiro Fujita and Hamamoto went out to calm him down while Billy hobbled to first and Maxey jogged to second.
  19. stance
    standing posture
    It made Rodney nervous, so he stepped out of the batter’s box, waited a minute, then came back and got into his stance.
  20. heckle
    challenge aggressively
    The Butcher studied Tough Boy while Maxey and Billy danced around a few feet from their bases, raising dust and heckling the Butcher.
  21. outfox
    beat through cleverness and wit
    Grampa came out and closed off Lucky’s run from his side while Billy and me worked around the ends. But it wasn’t any of us who outfoxed her. Red broke away from the stumbling pack trailing the flag and took a shortcut.
  22. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    Charlie put his hand on my shoulder, still grimacing. “They wrong,” he said again.
  23. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    “It’s my grampa’s...it’s been in our family for hundreds of years.”
    “Shhh,” Keet scoffed. “He probably got it at a carnival.”
  24. censor
    a person authorized to suppress unacceptable material
    There was no return address, and the place where it says where it was mailed from in the postmark was blacked out by a censor.
  25. forge
    create by hammering
    Then later I would bring out the katana, all shiny and oiled and looking like the day it was forged, and I would hand it to Papa.
Created on Fri Nov 26 11:18:25 EST 2021 (updated Tue Dec 07 11:28:24 EST 2021)

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