The Parker Inheritance: Chapters 30–40

by Varian Johnson
While spending the summer at her grandmother's house in Lambert, South Carolina, Candice finds an intriguing old letter in the attic. She joins forces with a neighbor to follow the clues in the letter and find a hidden treasure — but solving the mystery means uncovering past injustices in Lambert.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–18, Chapters 19–29, Chapters 30–40, Chapters 41–52
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. stereotypical
    lacking spontaneity or originality or individuality
    “It’s so good,” Candice said. Then she frowned. “Except for the Hoo family. They were a little stereotypical.”
  2. preceding
    existing or coming before
    He slid closer to her and traced his finger along the page until he found what he was looking for. “What’s the word directly preceding that sentence here?”
    Candice sighed. “For.”
  3. figurative
    not literal
    Maybe it's more figurative. Like, if it's a sum, maybe we should convert the clues to numbers. The dates to numbers.
  4. impartial
    free from undue bias or preconceived opinions
    Given the secrecy of the exhibition, he was as close to impartial as the Perkins team was going to get.
  5. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    “Yeah, you’re probably right. Marion Allen is already riled up. It would just make things worse if he saw you with us.”
  6. baseline
    the back line bounding each end of a tennis court
    Jackie Harris took his place on one side of the court, and a large Wallace player lined up on the opposite baseline.
  7. loft
    propel through the air
    Harold lofted the ball high into the air, then delivered his serve.
  8. expend
    use up or consume fully
    Instead of trying to hit winning shots like before, Jackie focused on just keeping the ball in play, forcing Harold to expend more energy chasing the ball around the court...which led to Harold becoming more tired and making more errors.
  9. farce
    a comedy characterized by broad satire
    Siobhan was sure everyone could see the farce this exhibition had become.
  10. sulk
    be in a huff and display one's displeasure
    He kept cheering, getting louder and louder as his brother pulled ahead, only to fall silent and sulk whenever Glenn began to lose.
  11. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    Siobhan watched her father and Adam Douglas saunter over to Reverend Hollister and Coach Turner in the center of the court.
  12. integrity
    moral soundness
    “Come on, Coach. You’re a man of integrity.”
    “You’re a fine one to be talking about integrity, with the stunt you just pulled.”
  13. corral
    collect or gather
    Adam Douglas and Chip had corralled the Perkins teams and was leading them away from the bleachers.
  14. dementia
    mental deterioration of organic or functional origin
    “I thought that—and please don’t take this the wrong way—perhaps she had been suffering from dementia,” she said.
  15. fallacy
    a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning
    “Everyone except his mother,” Ms. Jones said. “But what can I say—people see what they want to see. Especially about people they love.” She leaned over and pecked Tori on the cheek. “It’s the fallacy of mothers.”
  16. default
    an option that is selected automatically
    That was her default when she was stuck—to look at the photos.
  17. wield
    handle effectively
    The largest man wielded a knife, while the other two carried baseball bats.
  18. writhing
    moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
    Reggie's attackers stumbled away from him. They grabbed the large one, still writhing on the ground, and escaped.
  19. gospel
    a genre of evangelical Christian music
    Coach Douglas found a Negro gospel station outside of Tuscaloosa.
  20. radical
    markedly new or introducing extreme change
    And thanks to those Quakers, he had some pretty radical notions on how Negroes should be treated.
  21. contemplate
    reflect deeply on a subject
    Coach Douglas stepped out, leaving Reggie to contemplate what he would do if he were rich and powerful.
  22. prod
    urge on; cause to act
    But although Rita was worried, she was also determined, and finally, after a week of prodding, she convinced Walter to look through his files to find someone who might be a good fit.
  23. credible
    capable of being believed
    Meanwhile, Coach Douglas and Reggie worked to create a credible backstory for the person Reggie was to become.
  24. formulate
    come up with after a mental effort
    “Oh. Okay.” It took her a second to process this, and then another few seconds to formulate a response. “So...I can’t talk to him at all? Not even for a quick minute?”
  25. terminology
    a system of words used to name things in a discipline
    Did they keep score—and use all that confusing tennis terminology?
  26. intermediary
    a negotiator who acts as a link between parties
    “Here’s the deal. I don’t know what you have to tell my brother, but it has to be really important to call here at six in the morning. So in exchange for an additional month of car washing, I’ve agreed to serve as an intermediary between you two.”
  27. alibi
    a defense of some offensive behavior
    Siobhan was never officially seeing anyone in high school, but she was sneaking around with someone, though she’d never tell me who. I had to be her alibi a few times.
  28. liberal
    not strictly literal or exact
    “You should go. Granddad’ll be here soon, and I don’t think he’d agree with my liberal interpretation of Brandon’s punishment.”
  29. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    Candice hadn’t wanted to add the part about the Allens and the Washingtons, but Brandon had been adamant.
  30. stark
    complete or extreme
    The man on the screen looked well put together. His hair, now stark white, sat high on his head.
  31. justify
    defend, explain, or make excuses for by reasoning
    “They beat them up and drove them out of town,” Brandon said. “How can you justify that?”
  32. curt
    speaking in a terse, rude, or abrupt way
    “Sorry to be curt, but this conversation is over. I only wanted to see who you were and what you knew.”
  33. vile
    morally reprehensible
    Then he called Brandon one of the dirty, horrible, vile names that had been scrawled in the vandalized yearbook.
  34. shrill
    having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
    “Shut up,” Milo said. His voice sounded small. Shrill.
  35. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    He fell, his arms billowing out. His back and head bounced against the sidewalk with a loud crack.
  36. frank
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    “Millie and I had a very long, very frank conversation yesterday. I’ve made it abundantly clear what steps I will take if this bullying continues.”
  37. reluctantly
    with a certain degree of unwillingness
    Reluctantly, she walked to him.
  38. passive
    peacefully resistant in response to injustice
    Before, she had been passive in her rebellion—sneaking off to see Reggie, refusing to play tennis.
  39. whim
    a sudden desire
    On a whim, she decided to slip off to Lambert a few weeks before the dedication.
  40. memento
    a reminder of past events
    She wanted to place a memento in the dirt, underneath the green courts.
Created on Fri Jun 29 20:02:16 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Jul 10 14:22:31 EDT 2018)

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