The Red Pencil: Part I: Our Farm, Broken Bottle Dolly–Displaced

by Andrea Davis Pinkney
In this powerful novel-in-verse, a twelve-year-old Sudanese girl must make her way to a refugee camp after her village is attacked.

Here are links to our lists for the novel:Part I: Our Farm, Wheat-Seeing the Same Sun, Part I: Our Farm, Broken Bottle Dolly-Displaced, Part II: Kalma, Scraps-Erase, Part II: Kalma, Sweet Invitation–Flight
40 words 56 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. wispy
    thin and weak
    She invents silly wispy voices
    that bring her baby to life.
  2. sheath
    a dress suitable for formal occasions
    He pulls loose the green sheath dress.
  3. lurk
    wait in hiding to attack
    This dim, shapeless thing
    has been lurking.
  4. foreboding
    a feeling of evil to come
    This shaded expression
    that has no name
    has settled itself
    in glances and unspoken foreboding.
  5. unrelenting
    never-ceasing
    Before dawn has a chance
    to press
    on our heads,
    baking us
    with unrelenting heat.
  6. slosh
    spill or splash copiously or clumsily
    The riverbed fills our empty, wanting vessels
    with the wet,
    sloshing promise of water.
  7. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    Leila's face:
    open,
    ready,
    steady gaze,
    dimple-cheeks,
    framed by a billowing tarha.
  8. gait
    an animal's manner of moving
    Muma asks, "Do you see Nali's gait, so lopsided?
    And her belly, so plump?"
  9. bumble
    walk unsteadily
    She bumbles slowly, waddling.
  10. bulge
    swell or protrude outwards
    The sky is the color of a glistening onion,
    bulging brown at its edges.
  11. frenzied
    excessively agitated
    The other villagers are as frenzied as Dando,
    moving quickly,
    so frightened.
  12. livestock
    any animals kept for use or profit
    I race to our livestock pen to find Nali.
  13. obstinate
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    "Amira is being obstinate,"
    Dando calls back.
  14. flail
    thrash about
    Then,
    as if the haboob has come to a quick decision,
    she swerves upward.

    Gathers her flailing wind.
    Hurls away in a sharp slant,
    a proud bird showing off her tail.
  15. crusty
    having a hardened outer part as a covering
    I blink,
    brush at the crusty film
    now covering all of me.
  16. enthralled
    filled with wonder and delight
    Nali's breathing is a soft comfort,
    yet I'm still enthralled
    by the haboob’s howling whirl.
  17. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    Muma rocks Leila, who, like me,
    can't sleep.
    She's fitful, cranky.
  18. settle
    become resolved, fixed, established, or quiet
    Nali has settled herself
    on a patch of dried grasses
    at the far end
    of our livestock pen.
  19. speckle
    mark with small spots
    Speckled bits of silver
    against a blue-black cap.
  20. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    She lands, belly flat, limbs splayed,
    on the matted grasses beneath.
  21. nuzzle
    gently rub or push one's nose or face against something
    Nali nuzzles her child,
    coaxes the lamb.
  22. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    Nali nuzzles her child,
    coaxes the lamb.
  23. prance
    spring forward on the hind legs
    I go along with this game
    of hide-and-find,
    calling her name
    until she peeks,
    then prances
    to show me,
    Here I am!
  24. silhouette
    an outline of a solid object as cast by its shadow
    Their bodies paint blue silhouettes
    against dawn's tawny drape.
  25. tawny
    having the color of tanned leather
    Their bodies paint blue silhouettes
    against dawn's tawny drape.
  26. supple
    moving and bending with ease
    Muma shows me the right way
    for pressing the heel of my hand
    to flatten the supple mounds.
  27. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    All place and time,
    mind and breath
    become blurred chaos,
    shuddering frantically.
  28. brittle
    having little elasticity
    Brittle twig—snapped.
  29. stricken
    affected by something overwhelming
    My Bright,
    turned black.
    Stricken!
  30. singe
    burn superficially or lightly
    With him, too,
    is Gamal
    whose face is singed
    at the place
    where his ear meets his neck.
  31. poultice
    a medical dressing spread on a cloth and applied to the skin
    Old Anwar peels the curled-open skin
    from Gamal's neck.
    Patches his burns
    with a root poultice.
  32. char
    burn to charcoal
    I crawl under,
    behind,
    and into charred bushes,
    looking for Flitter,
    who is not there.
  33. ransack
    steal goods; take as spoils
    I comb the grain shed's corners,
    now ransacked and smelling of
    burned wood.
  34. ration
    the food allowance for one day
    Old Anwar's donkey
    carries food rations,
    and what little else we've brought.
  35. remnant
    a small part remaining after the main part no longer exists
    The last remnant I see
    is Muma's wedding toob,
    now a little hill of ash,
    resting atop a pile of soot,
    its fringed edge
    flicking in the breeze,
    waving good-bye.
  36. dogged
    stubbornly unyielding
    We walk on dogged feet
    for nights
    and nights
    and nights.
  37. morsel
    a small amount of solid food; a mouthful
    He mashes his ration into one bite,
    devours the morsels that must sustain him
    until tomorrow.
  38. dwindle
    become smaller or lose substance
    Our food rations have dwindled,
    so she insists that my sister ride atop
    Old Anwar's donkey,
    who now has less to carry.
  39. tether
    restraint consisting of a rope or chain
    Muma has reached the end of her tether.
    She is frustrated.
    Leila is making it worse.
  40. arrogance
    overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner
    "This war," he says, "It is a fight over land and rights.
    Such a wicked conflict.
    Africans and Arabs, each feeling entitled.
    Greed and arrogance have brought bloodshed."
Created on Fri Dec 01 17:46:34 EST 2017 (updated Tue Jan 16 14:52:17 EST 2018)

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