Home of the Brave: Part One–Part Two

by Katherine Applegate
In this verse novel, a young immigrant from Africa adjusts to life in the United States.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part One–Part Two, Part Three–Epilogue

Here are links to our lists for other works by Katherine Applegate: Crenshaw,Wishtree, The One and Only Ivan
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. proverb
    a condensed but memorable saying embodying an important fact
    When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
    —AFRICAN PROVERB
  2. refugee
    an exile who flees for safety
    Sometimes Dave speaks English,
    the tangled sounds
    they tried to teach us
    in the refugee camp.
  3. wade
    walk through relatively shallow water
    Walking through the snow
    is hard work,
    like wading across a river
    wild with rain.
  4. stubborn
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    A cow can be trouble,
    with her slow, stubborn body,
    her belly ripe with milk,
    her pleading eyes that shine at you
    like river rocks in sun.
  5. scold
    censure severely or angrily
    Two chickens trot behind her
    scolding and fussing.
  6. muffled
    being or made softer or less loud or clear
    Dave knocks on one of them,
    and behind it I hear the
    muffled voices of my past.
  7. reedy
    upright and slender
    The man’s voice belongs to Ganwar,
    and he has my father’s height now,
    though Ganwar is thin and reedy
    where my father
    was sturdy with strength.
  8. wary
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    His eyes are wary and smart,
    always taking the measure of a person.
  9. thermostat
    a regulator for automatically regulating temperature
    This thermostat, Dave says,
    helps keep you warm.
  10. counselor
    someone who gives advice about problems
    I’ll talk to your counselor at school, Dave says.
  11. optimist
    a person disposed to take a favorable view of things
    Ah, says Dave,
    an optimist.
  12. willful
    habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition
    My stubborn Kek,
    my willful son,
    if you tell me
    you can dance with the wind,
    if you tell me
    you can sleep with the lion,
    if you tell me
    you can harvest the stars,
    how can I doubt you,
    my son?
  13. dune
    a ridge of sand created by the wind
    On the floor
    lie blankets and pillows
    like gentle dunes.
  14. acacia
    any of various spiny trees or shrubs
    Remember how you jumped from the top
    of the acacia tree?
  15. embrace
    a close affectionate and protective acceptance
    Always when I think of her
    I see a cloudless day blooming full,
    I feel warmth on my shoulders,
    I know hope’s embrace.
  16. scowl
    a facial expression of dislike or displeasure
    You must try harder,
    Lual says,
    and I give him my best scowl.
  17. barren
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    When we step outside
    it isn’t sky we see,
    but endless, barren land
    dotted with dead trees.
  18. flutter
    flap the wings rapidly or fly with flapping movements
    My hope flutters high
    like a bird I cannot catch.
  19. inquiry
    an instance of questioning
    We’ve sent out an inquiry
    about two camps on the border.
  20. graze
    let feed in a field or pasture or meadow
    It’s big enough to graze
    a herd of cattle in,
    made of fine, red square stones
    and surrounded by many
    tall not-dead trees.
  21. smother
    deprive of the oxygen necessary for combustion
    I smother the thought
    like an ember near dry grass.
  22. ember
    a hot, smoldering fragment of wood left from a fire
    I smother the thought
    like an ember near dry grass.
  23. foster
    providing nurture though not related by blood or legal ties
    She’s my foster mom.
  24. stampede
    run away in a headlong rush
    The cattle are stampeding again,
    the villagers would joke.
  25. idiom
    expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from its words
    That’s called an idiom, Dave explains.
    You're going to run into a lot of those.
  26. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    Dave turns to Ganwar,
    who’s sprawled on the couch
    like a dozing dog.
  27. intimidated
    made scared or fearful as by threats
    Don’t be intimidated, Ganwar, Dave says.
  28. shard
    a broken piece of a brittle artifact
    Maybe my words are
    broken like my aunt’s dishes,
    chips and shards
    that will not make a whole.
  29. cringe
    draw back, as with fear, pain, or embarrassment
    I cringe, waiting for the heat of his words.
  30. immigrant
    a person who comes to a country in order to settle there
    Ganwar rolls his eyes.
    Poor immigrants. Illegal immigrants.
Created on Fri Jun 01 08:54:08 EDT 2018 (updated Thu Sep 06 14:49:25 EDT 2018)

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