Rosa by Any Other Name: Chapters 45–60

by Hailey Alcaraz
This Romeo and Juliet-inspired historical novel tells the story of Rosa, a Mexican-American girl who is passing as white at her high school until a tragedy forces her to choose between her community and her future.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Prologue–Chapter 12, Chapters 13–27, Chapters 28–44, Chapters 45–60, Chapters 61–75
15 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    His fingers, rough and calloused, held onto mine with a loose, tentative grip.
  2. strident
    unpleasantly loud and harsh
    Mamá’s strident voice landed squarely in the negligible space between Marco and me.
  3. negligible
    so small as to be meaningless; insignificant
    Mamá’s strident voice landed squarely in the negligible space between Marco and me.
  4. segue
    proceed without interruption, in music or talk
    I peered up at the reporter, but he had already segued into describing the chic black dress and matching hat Mrs. Callihan had donned for the service.
  5. farce
    an event or situation that is absurd, empty, or insincere
    This was all a farce.
  6. matter-of-fact
    concerned with practical matters
    “Rosa. You can do this,” he said, firm and matter-of-fact.
  7. egregious
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
    “And, of course, the key detail that the sheriff doesn’t want us to know about, the detail we are hoping Rosa can speak about today: boyfriend to Julianne Callihan, the daughter of Sheriff Callihan and the other victim of the egregious violence that took place on September twenty-fourth.”
  8. minutia
    a small or minor detail
    This was about Ramón and Julianne, so why did he want to discuss the minutiae of my day-to-day life at school?
  9. arduous
    characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion
    Marco’s breathing had turned arduous behind me, deep breaths punctuated by sniffing, but I knew I couldn’t look at him.
  10. accountable
    responsible for one's actions
    “If we don’t hold Sheriff Callihan accountable for what he’s done, he will continue to abuse his power.”
  11. perpetrate
    perform an act, usually with a negative connotation
    “He’ll go on pretending to care about integration and justice and progress while perpetrating violence and oppression when it serves him. And that, I’m certain, is something neither Julianne nor Ramón would want.”
  12. incumbent
    currently holding an office
    A peeling billboard bearing the graffitied face of the incumbent candidate for governor.
  13. indignation
    a feeling of righteous anger
    Tim stepped through the doorway in front of me, and I caught the briefest flash of indignation on his face before it was blocked from my view.
  14. tenuous
    weak or unstable
    Though many people joined us for the meeting to listen to the logistics of the vigil—where we would gather that night, what to bring, what to expect—the atmosphere at El Foro remained tenuous at best.
  15. morose
    showing a brooding ill humor
    I hoped he didn’t notice how different those two statements were as I tried to settle my expression into something less morose.
Created on Wed Aug 12 08:40:33 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Sep 01 15:03:55 EDT 2026)

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