SKIP TO CONTENT

Where Things Come Back: Chapters 1–5

This award-winning novel weaves together the story of a cynical teen living in a small town in Arkansas and a disillusioned missionary who has just returned from Ethiopia.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–14, Chapters 15–21
40 words 15 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Full list of words from this list:

  1. ramble
    continue talking or writing in a purposeless manner
    Soon there was one more crying voice, and Gabriel and I sat up on my bed and listened through the wall as Aunt Julia rambled on and on about wanting to die.
  2. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    If you look up, then you can avoid being pushed or running into someone or being the convenient target for some ass-hat standing by the water fountain waiting intently for innocent-looking freshmen to walk by with their heads down.
  3. idealize
    consider or render as the best or most appropriate type
    Only I can’t seem to keep that up for too long before my natural urge to idealize goes into effect.
  4. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    The phone call at three that afternoon. The drive to Little Rock. And then the revelation of death. It was all too real.
  5. burly
    muscular and heavily built
    Like most teenage boys, I, Cullen Witter, was in love with a beautiful girl who had a big, burly boyfriend...
  6. sadistic
    deriving pleasure from inflicting pain on another
    You might think it sadistic to bet on an eighteen-year-old boy’s death or to talk about it like I wanted it to happen or something.
  7. perpetuate
    cause to continue or prevail
    Dr. Webb also says that the only way of dealing with the close-minded nature of most southern-born, conservative-leaning people is to either completely ignore their ignorance or to perpetuate it by playing into the set of standards that they subconsciously hold for each particular bubble.
  8. dissuade
    turn away from by persuasion
    He walked down the hallway at school with his head down not because he wanted to avoid being seen or dissuade social predators or anything, but simply because he didn’t see any reason to lift up his head.
  9. cathartic
    emotionally purging
    And one could only be left to sit back and witness this spectacle, waiting to see if anything brilliant or cathartic would come about.
  10. snub
    reject outright and bluntly
    When one is sitting in the passenger seat of his best friend’s car as an overly enthusiastic hillbilly is ranting in the backseat about being snubbed by a cheerleader at lunch, his mind begins to wander and think about zombies.
  11. wreak
    cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
    It is for this reason that I was imagining Russell Quitman and his friend Neil as zombies, wreaking havoc on Lily and killing men, women, and children.
  12. minion
    a servile or fawning dependent
    Walking slowly and with much confidence, I approached the Quit Man and his minion with a shotgun in one hand and an ax in the other.
  13. exert
    put to use
    Ethiopia, he thought, would be the first place he could truly exert his faith.
  14. pulpit
    a platform raised to give prominence to the person on it
    Reverend Hughes shouted from the pulpit as the congregation took their seats once again and opened their Bibles.
  15. ministry
    the work of a person authorized to conduct religious worship
    Rameel, who had been converted some five years earlier, had taken it upon himself to contact Benton’s church and request help for his ministry, which consisted of traveling across the country to provide food, water, and limited medical attention to small villages with the underlying intention of converting as many people to Christianity as possible.
  16. underlying
    in the nature of something though not readily apparent
    Rameel, who had been converted some five years earlier, had taken it upon himself to contact Benton’s church and request help for his ministry, which consisted of traveling across the country to provide food, water, and limited medical attention to small villages with the underlying intention of converting as many people to Christianity as possible.
  17. excursion
    a journey taken for pleasure
    It was on their first excursion to the west that Benton had a vision of God in a dream.
  18. abyss
    a bottomless gulf or pit
    I could, especially when trying to ignore the sweat dripping into my eyes as I thrust a brush into the dark abyss.
  19. obtrusive
    undesirably noticeable
    For a second there was silence. That sort of extreme silence when sounds that you usually don’t notice start to quickly become more and more evident and obtrusive, like the buzzing of the freezer in the back of the store and the humming of the air conditioner.
  20. insincere
    lacking the quality of being open and truthful
    “I hope so, Penny. I really do,” my mother said in that work-voice that only Gabriel and I knew was insincere.
  21. nonchalantly
    in an unconcerned manner
    When I told him that I wanted to write a book about zombies taking over our town, he suggested that I make myself the hero and said nonchalantly, “You could even have to kill me after I get bitten. Wouldn’t that be an awesome twist?”
  22. blunt
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    That is not to say, however, that he was rude or outspoken or blunt in any way.
  23. earnest
    devout or heartfelt
    The next morning, in the churchyard, where I had rarely stood, there seemed to be a familiar feel to the wind brushing lightly against my face and the words being spoken as earnestly as they were eloquently by Reverend Wells.
  24. eloquent
    expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
    The next morning, in the churchyard, where I had rarely stood, there seemed to be a familiar feel to the wind brushing lightly against my face and the words being spoken as earnestly as they were eloquently by Reverend Wells.
  25. prelude
    something that introduces what follows
    I lay there silent beside my brother, my best friend and his girlfriend wading in the water before me, and I knew that we were all just in the prelude to disappointment after disappointment.
  26. seasoned
    rendered competent through trial and experience
    “I think they’ll all be disappointed even if they do find it. Nothing’s gonna change this place,” he said, his tone changing from serious and reflective to that of a seasoned actor’s.
  27. scripture
    any writing that is regarded as sacred by a religious group
    He lay awake at night, reading scriptures over and over, racking his brain for some meaning to words he’d been fed and had preached time and time again.
  28. salvation
    the act of delivering from sin or saving from evil
    “It’s in Hebrews. It says, ‘Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”’
  29. humility
    a lack of arrogance or false pride
    “Isadora’s family is very wealthy,” Rameel said with humility.
  30. missionary
    someone sent to a foreign country to spread a religion
    During dessert, a chocolate mousse that Benton did enjoy, Isadora began asking him questions about himself, his family, and his life as a missionary.
  31. elusive
    skillful at evading capture
    He talked mostly about himself and how he had decided a year before that he would come down to Arkansas to find the “elusive Lazarus woodpecker.”
  32. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    Fulton Dumas, a tall, lanky, and disheveled sixteen-year-old, described John Barling as the most egotistical, maniacal, and power-hungry man he’d ever met.
  33. egotistical
    having an inflated idea of one's own importance
    Fulton Dumas, a tall, lanky, and disheveled sixteen-year-old, described John Barling as the most egotistical, maniacal, and power-hungry man he’d ever met.
  34. effeminate
    lacking traits typically associated with men or masculinity
    I didn’t put too much stock in what Fulton said, given that the only man he had to compare anyone to was his slightly effeminate father.
  35. cynical
    believing the worst of human nature and motives
    I was especially cynical in groups, perhaps feeling that a witty cut-down about a stranger would earn me the respect and admiration of friends.
  36. beady
    small, round, and shiny
    Its beady black eyes and long, white bill kept me from noticing that it stood a good two feet off the ground.
  37. stern
    not able to yield, relent, or forgive
    “Cullen, look at me,” Lucas said sternly.
  38. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    Those two weeks were mostly uneventful save for the massive forty-man search party that the police department somehow coaxed into hiking through the woods all around Lily and canoeing down the river.
  39. monotony
    the quality of wearisome constancy and lack of variety
    The monotony of it made me want to disappear too.
  40. throes
    violent pangs of suffering
    When I rolled over onto a sharp rock and yelled in pain, Alma Ember mistakenly thought that I was in the vocal throes of passion...
Created on Tue Oct 02 11:21:40 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Oct 02 11:35:43 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.