The Art Thieves: List 1

by Andrea L. Rogers
In a climate-ravaged future, Cherokee teen Stevie Henry must decide whether to trust a mysterious boy claiming to be a time traveler sent to steal and protect priceless artwork before an impending apocalypse destroys it.

This list covers vocabulary from "Turning Tide"–"Space Age Love Song."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
15 words 1 learner

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. exploit
    use or manipulate to one's advantage
    We are connected to the world, not meant to only exploit it—not be a cancer on our own planet.
  2. reciprocity
    a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence
    Living here with other living beings should have always been a life of reciprocity and cooperation.
  3. timeline
    a sequence of events arranged in chronological order
    I hope we see each other again. Maybe even in this world. Possibly even this timeline.
  4. disabuse
    free somebody from an erroneous belief
    Walter spent a brief period training to be a cop, thinking he could change the system from within. As a Black cadet, he was quickly disabused of that notion.
  5. denouement
    the outcome of a complex sequence of events
    The tense discussions I kept overhearing her and Dad in, my friends and I had come to call the denouement of the world.
  6. windfall
    a sudden happening that brings good fortune
    They’d put their windfall in savings and good camping and hunting gear.
  7. apropos
    of a suitable, fitting, or pertinent nature
    “How about if I make dinner tonight?” I announced, apropos of nothing.
  8. parse
    analyze in detail in order to discover essential features
    All I knew is even while we were at work, the app was at her house, parsing through tons of data on religion, spirituality, and laws in order to compile a list of best practices for humans based on where they lived, what the planet was doing, what they felt was right or wrong, what was good for the majority—rules for living.
  9. indigenous
    originating where it is found
    I thought of how the Cherokee Nation and other tribes and Indigenous people were buying up properties from these exiting settlers, expanding back into the original boundaries of what was supposed to have been Indian land as long as the grass grew.
  10. curator
    the custodian of a collection, as a museum or library
    The curator for the main collection had popped into our gift shop meeting the week before and told us about the upcoming summer exhibits and the artist, who the curator only called Adawi.
  11. ascertain
    learn or determine by making an inquiry or other effort
    Sometimes in the U.S. “Indigenous” was accurate, but sometimes it was a lazy, offhand phrase, used either to lump a bunch of brown people together who may or may not be Native, or for whom no one bothered to ascertain a tribe.
  12. tenuous
    weak or unstable
    There were eight tribes indigenous to Costa Rica and, also, tribes who had moved into Costa Rica from other territories where their right to exist was even more tenuous.
  13. sabbatical
    a leave usually taken every seventh year
    He had been gone on sabbatical from both the museum and the university he worked at and had been traveling that spring.
  14. winnow
    select desirable parts from a group or list
    It was all a scheme organized to advantage those with the advantages, and test and winnow out those who started with significantly less money or brown bodies.
  15. expat
    a person who is voluntarily absent from home or country
    “I don’t use cultural heritage to sell my art. I grew up in a commune, a very odd commune. Lots of what you call expats from America and Europe.”
Created on Sun Sep 20 17:55:09 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Nov 03 14:42:21 EST 2026)

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