The Stars Beneath Our Feet: Chapters 11-24

by David Barclay Moore
In this novel, a 12-year-old boy uses his passion for building to come to terms with his brother's death. Build your vocabulary by learning these words from David Barclay Moore's award-winning debut.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapter 1-10, Chapters 11-24, Chapters 25-37
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. muffled
    being or made softer or less loud or clear
    “Oh, so this is fun!” I heard Ali say, muffled from the other side.
  2. tote
    carry with difficulty
    Toting my orange backpack over one shoulder, I crept down the hall in the community center.
  3. jalapeno
    hot green or red pepper
    “What you doing out here? Did you know about this chocolate-covered jalapeno?”
  4. instigate
    provoke or stir up
    “Oh snap,” Freddy said, trying to instigate a throwdown.
  5. hack
    cough spasmodically
    I was hacking so hard, I felt like I was about to throw up.
  6. scarce
    deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
    It also said that they were so scarce in the city, you shouldn’t feel scared if you met one; you should feel lucky.
  7. nauseate
    upset and make ill
    That would be nauseating.
  8. affect
    have an emotional or cognitive impact upon
    “It was very brave to go there. Knowing how it might affect you.”
  9. problematic
    making great mental demands
    “But she knows it’s problematic for you, having Jermaine’s bed in your room?”
  10. borough
    one of the administrative divisions of a large city
    I had divided Harmonee into three boroughs, or neighborhoods: the hero borough, the monster borough and the regular borough for all the regular people.
  11. gripe
    complain
    I couldn’t really gripe to Ali too much.
  12. monarch
    a nation's ruler usually by hereditary right
    Blaze Tower was where the monarch went to be alone with his thoughts about the galaxy and when he wanted to deep-think.
  13. ogle
    stare or look at, especially with amorous intentions
    This thing made me anxious enough without having all of after-school ogling over my shoulders.
  14. obliterate
    do away with completely, without leaving a trace
    Big Rose was obliterated.
  15. loot
    steal goods; take as spoils
    It had been weeks since she had rushed into my space and started looting my Legos.
  16. solemn
    dignified and somber in manner or character
    “A mysterious mystery,” Vega said, all solemn.
  17. fumble
    handle clumsily
    He dribbled my basketball between his legs and fumbled it every few steps.
  18. retaliation
    action taken in return for an injury or offense
    One of them sat on a fire hydrant spitting lyrics:
    If they bury me, no need to worry
    I expect retaliation in a hurry
  19. ghetto
    a poor densely populated city district
    Jermaine used to say that listening to Tupac was like listening in on the mind of every young Black man in the ghetto.
  20. daze
    overcome as with astonishment or disbelief
    Every now and then he would act like he would need to sit down, but then he would just stay standing, dazed.
  21. fare
    the sum charged for riding in a public conveyance
    ‘You wander down to this part of East 125th, you got to pay the fare, Lollypop,” he said.
  22. pummel
    strike, usually with the fist
    She was pummeling Harp’s head like a jackhammer breaking concrete.
  23. plantain
    starchy banana-like fruit
    Mrs. Vega made the best sancocho, with big chunks of pork and lots of plantains.
  24. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    Frito hung up his phone and stood, grimacing.
  25. swag
    valuable goods
    They would make you give them your swag instead of them actually snatching it off you.
  26. girder
    a beam used as a main support in a structure
    I glanced over at Rose, who was bent over a model, building a girder.
  27. dynasty
    a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family
    So Harmonee was built and designed by the Moneekrom family dynasty.
  28. unperturbed
    free from emotional agitation or nervous tension
    He wasn’t as unperturbed as he usually was.
  29. momentum
    an impelling force or strength
    If he hadn’t, we could’a rolled all the way down to St. Nick Houses just on momentum.
  30. scrutinize
    look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail
    He scrutinized the trees one more time and then we all hiked off.
  31. despicable
    morally reprehensible
    Ever since I had started hanging out with Rose, Sunny had gotten more and more despicable about what I was doing.
  32. commence
    take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
    I remembered back when I had commenced my city, she had thought it was supreme.
  33. conspirator
    a member of a plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act
    “Casimiro, let us alone. I need to speak with your conspirators here.”
  34. hostility
    a state of deep-seated ill-will
    The messed-up thing was that just when I felt like I had been getting all right with Jermaine being gone, him being dead, all this hostility had to happen.
  35. jab
    poke or thrust abruptly
    Her paperback of A Coffin for Dimitrios was jabbing me, so I set it on her nightstand.
Created on Mon Feb 12 13:33:34 EST 2018 (updated Mon Feb 12 13:53:21 EST 2018)

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