When I Was the Greatest: Chapters 7–9

by Jason Reynolds
In his debut novel, award-winning writer Jason Reynolds tells the story of Ali, a teenager who tries to stay out of trouble in his gritty Brooklyn neighborhood. But when one of his friends is attacked, Ali is drawn into a real fight — with real consequences.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–12, Chapters 13–16

Here are links to our lists for other books by Jason Reynolds: The Boy in the Black Suit, All American Boys, Long Way Down, Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. glimpse
    a brief or incomplete view
    It was like having a glimpse into a rich man's closet.
  2. suede
    leather with a napped surface
    Like a glow was coming from all kinds of silk and suede, and funny names that none of us could pronounce, so we knew it was expensive stuff.
  3. practically
    almost; nearly
    After he got out of prison that last time, he only dealt with clothes, not robbery or nothing like that. He said he practically swore off guns.
  4. brim
    a circular projection sticking out from the crown of a hat
    I looked away from the gun, anywhere away from it, as he walked back over to me and sat the cap on top of my head. He pulled the brim down over my eyes and then stepped back to check me out.
  5. mane
    growth of hair covering the scalp of a human being
    "You know, I could always just cut it all off for you," she said, tugging on what my mother calls my mane.
  6. access
    the right to make use of or take advantage of something
    I could smell the grease. She had a big scoop of it sitting on the back of her hand. My mom does the same thing when she does Jazz's hair. It's for easy access.
  7. waddle
    walk unsteadily
    "Prego? Are you serious? You know why I call him Prego? 'Cause he waddle like a pregnant woman. He good people, but I can't walk down the block with him looking like he about to lay an egg. Not happening."
  8. apparently
    seemingly; as far as one can tell
    Apparently, though, she was thinking about the boy she liked, and was itching to tell me.
  9. mode
    how something is done or how it happens
    "Ali?" she said, her voice in eleven-year-old mode again. I liked it like that. Killed me when she sounded too grown-up.
  10. muffled
    being or made softer or less loud or clear
    "Yeah," I said, muffled. My head was tilted, and my chin was pressed into my chest.
  11. tilt
    incline or bend from a vertical position
    "Yeah," I said, muffled. My head was tilted, and my chin was pressed into my chest.
  12. desperately
    with great urgency
    "Don't tell nobody Ali," she said desperately "But yeah. He kinda cute. And he nice. And he smart."
  13. respectful
    exhibiting an attitude of admiration or esteem
    But I knew Joe Malloy and the reality is, he was a pretty good choice. Never into no trouble. Always polite and respectful.
  14. innocence
    the quality of lacking in sophistication or worldliness
    Her face was pure innocence.
  15. blur
    a hazy or indistinct representation
    I looked over at my mother, who was like a blur moving fast around the room.
  16. stagger
    walk with great difficulty
    I got up and staggered over to the door.
  17. overload
    an excessive burden
    His excitement was kind of an overload to me because I was barely awake.
  18. barely
    in a sparse or scanty way
    His excitement was kind of an overload to me because I was barely awake.
  19. cue
    a stimulus that provides information about what to do
    "My world-famous Spaghetto. Duh," Jazz chimed in, perfectly on cue.
  20. devilish
    mischievous in an appealingly bold way
    I looked over at Jazz, expecting her to have her usual devilish grin she always has whenever she thinks people like her food, but instead she looked concerned.
  21. deja vu
    the experience of thinking a new situation already occurred
    All I could think about was the first day Jazz and Noodles met, and Jazz asked him if his mom didn't cook. It was like deja vu.
  22. persist
    refuse to stop
    "But if you this hungry, he gotta be pretty hungry too, right?" Jazz persisted.
  23. routine
    an unvarying or habitual method or procedure
    That was her routine every night.
  24. harass
    annoy continually or chronically
    Them bad boys were clean enough for a cop to harass me just for having them on.
  25. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    Ms. Brenda looked at me skeptically, then nodded her head.
  26. frilly
    having decorative ruffles or similar ornamentation
    She also grabbed her cell phone and her cordless house phone, and gathered up the bottom of her long nightgown, which looked like nothing more than a big frilly silk sack with a hole cut for her head to go through.
  27. borough
    one of the administrative divisions of a large city
    Tasha and MoMo lived just a block down, but it seemed like a whole other borough just because the blocks were so much different.
  28. stalk
    recur constantly and spontaneously to
    Well, that was a good point, and it wouldn't surprise me if Noodles grew up and started stalking Tasha.
  29. grumble
    make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath
    "I don't even know why I'm letting y'all in here," she grumbled.
  30. holler
    call out loudly
    "Aight, y'all, go ahead in," Tasha hollered.
Created on Sun Jun 24 19:46:12 EDT 2018 (updated Wed Oct 31 10:54:10 EDT 2018)

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