Starfish: "No Love"–"Room for Starfish"

by Lisa Fipps
Ellie, an 11-year-old girl from Texas, learns to stand up for herself and confront bullies who tease her about her weight.

This list covers "No Love"–"Room for Starfish."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3
25 words 62 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. obese
    excessively large
    I learn big girls,
    even obese ones,
    were once seen as
    normal,
    preferred,
    beautiful.
  2. wince
    make a face indicating disgust or dislike
    Doc’s whiskers twitch when she winces.
  3. virtue
    any admirable quality or attribute
    “Patience is a virtue.”
  4. frothy
    emitting or filled with bubbles
    A frothy, fizzy fountain
    spews all over us.
  5. stealthy
    marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
    “If that cart were a book character,
    it’d be Cartniss Everdeen.
    Quiet and stealthy,” I say,
    coming alongside her.
  6. marzipan
    confection made of sugar, almond paste, and egg whites
    First I bite into a marzipan,
    and the crumbly, nutty candy
    melts in my mouth like powdered sugar,
    taking away some of the bitterness
    I feel remembering the day
    I took down the bathroom mirror.
  7. overwhelming
    very intense
    Everything that seems so
    big and overwhelming,
    like school and home,
    suddenly grows small
    and slowly disappears.
  8. fringe
    an ornamental border of short lengths of hanging threads
    I grab the throw pillow,
    hold it in front of my belly,
    slip my fingers through
    the loops of the fringe
    around the edges, and
    twist the threads tight
    until my fingers turn white.
  9. frumpy
    drab, old-fashioned, and unattractive
    One side of my upper lip
    curls up as I focus on the
    frumpy, clumpy, bumpy pillow.
  10. impression
    an imitative portrayal of a person
    I nod,
    do an amazingly good impression
    of a bobblehead.
  11. poised
    marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
    Doc’s wand is a pen again,
    poised to take notes.
  12. chutzpah
    unbelievable gall; insolence; audacity
    Thanks to a screwdriver and chutzpah,
    I’m about to get some practice
    with changing thoughts.
  13. latke
    a pancake made of grated potato
    I’m just thankful
    the Maccabees’ miracle
    involved oil so we can
    feast on fried foods,
    like potato latkes and
    sufganiyot crammed
    with blackberry jam.
  14. char
    burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color
    I hold my toaster fork over the flame
    until the fire chars it black before
    I blow it out and eat it,
    crunchy, sticky, and sweet.
  15. ceremonial
    marked by pomp or formality
    “It’s about cultures that have
    ceremonial burnings
    to symbolize letting go and
    starting over.”
  16. kindling
    material for starting a fire
    Fat Girl Rules
    make for great kindling.
  17. complication
    a medical condition that occurs because of another condition
    “So you hate looking at me so much
    you’re willing to chance
    me dying on an operating table
    or later from complications?”
  18. livid
    furiously angry
    “Let’s dive deeper with one of those.
    Give me synonyms for mad."

    I clench my jaw. “Furious.”
    I raise my voice. “Livid.”
    I almost spit each syllable. “Seething.”
  19. seethe
    be in an agitated emotional state
    “Let’s dive deeper with one of those.
    Give me synonyms for mad."

    I clench my jaw. “Furious.”
    I raise my voice. “Livid.”
    I almost spit each syllable. “Seething.”
  20. flail
    thrash about
    My arms flail like
    I’m swimming on land,
    a fish out of water.
  21. constrict
    squeeze or push together
    At the second appointment,
    with each pump of the black bulb,
    the blood pressure cuff constricts my arm
    like a hungry boa, until I think
    my skin will burst open,
    and my arm starts to bruise.
  22. scour
    examine minutely
    We divide up and
    scour the neighborhood.
  23. culvert
    a transverse and enclosed drain under a road or railway
    With the windows down,
    we coast around
    block after block,
    calling out Gigi’s name and
    stopping to look in bushes and culverts
    and check around trash cans.
  24. bristle
    a stiff fiber
    I’m sitting on my bed
    with my back to the door
    as I brush my hair.
    The bristles hit
    the mother of all tangles.
  25. reluctantly
    with a certain degree of unwillingness
    I reluctantly hand her the brush.
Created on Thu Jan 06 12:31:18 EST 2022 (updated Fri Jan 07 16:44:30 EST 2022)

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