With the Fire on High: List 2

by Elizabeth Acevedo
Emoni Santiago pursues her dream of becoming a chef while finishing high school and raising her daughter.

This list covers pages 59–138 of the 2019 HarperTeen edition ("College Essay: First Draft"–"Hurricane Season").

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5

Here is a link to our lists for The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.
40 words 313 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dwell
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    I choose not to dwell on my father’s rotating-door style of parenting, and instead reflect on my grandmother’s choice to not only bring me home from the hospital and raise me, but also to offer me a fighting chance.
  2. blemish
    a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something
    Chef Ayden isn’t a tall man and has the kind of dark skin that’s so free of blemishes it looks polished.
  3. contrary
    resistant to guidance or discipline
    Everyone else must feel the same way because a couple of people shuffle their feet and Pretty Leslie clears her throat from across the room. “Um, Chef, I don’t mean to be rude or whatever, but I thought this was a cooking class? I’m pretty sure most of us know how to hold a knife.” See? Even Pretty Leslie feels me, and that girl is as contrary as I don’t know what.
  4. innuendo
    an indirect and usually malicious implication
    I narrow my eyes at him. “Was that some weird...innuendo?”
  5. self-conscious
    excessively aware of your appearance or behavior
    I try not to be self-conscious about how little Spanish I know, but some days it feels like not speaking Spanish automatically makes me a Bad Boricua.
  6. parcel
    divide into parts
    But it’s like I’m some long-division problem folks keep wanting to parcel into pieces, and they don’t hear me when I say: I don’t reduce, homies.
  7. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    Angelica is looking at me, oblivious to the mob of lost-looking freshmen coming her way.
  8. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    I think I should get points for the fact that I keep my face stoic.
  9. intervention
    the act of getting involved
    But I’ve learned to appreciate her lack of intervention. She lets me be the mom.
  10. fickle
    marked by erratic changeableness in affections
    Fickle Fatherhood
    My father has always loved to read to me.
  11. instill
    teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
    I may question a lot of his actions, but his phone calls from San Juan and his attempts to instill a love of knowledge into me aren’t among them.
  12. explicit
    precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable
    But the toddler books all suggest moms practice direct and clear language, managing expectations, giving explicit instructions, et cetera.
  13. qualification
    the act of modifying or changing the strength of some idea
    Sometimes I think boys are just like babies when it comes to something they want—and they need to be told no, firmly and without qualification.
  14. mortar
    a vessel in which substances can be ground with a pestle
    We have el Centro de Oro, the strip of Puerto Rican shops where you can get everything from oversized flags to island spices to hand-carved mortar and pestles.
  15. pestle
    a hand tool for grinding and mixing substances in a mortar
    We have el Centro de Oro, the strip of Puerto Rican shops where you can get everything from oversized flags to island spices to hand-carved mortar and pestles.
  16. curdle
    go bad or sour
    I come from a place that’s as sweet as the freshest berry, as sour as curdled milk; where we dream of owning mansions and leaving the hood; where we couldn’t imagine having been raised anywhere else.
  17. pathogen
    any disease-producing agent
    “Under what conditions do pathogens that contaminate food grow?” Chef Ayden scans the room.
  18. credentials
    a document attesting to the truth of certain stated facts
    I don’t want Steve’s job, but I like knowing I have the credentials to take it from him if I wanted to.
  19. technicality
    a detail that is considered insignificant
    I look at the spot right over Chef’s shoulder; I can’t meet his eyes. He makes another note on his clipboard. “You’re not wrong. But you’re also not technically right. You have a sense of what works. You understand it in practice. But you still need to learn the technicalities. Cooking is a science; it’s more than just instinct.”
  20. catharsis
    purging of emotional tensions
    Catharsis
    ’Buela comes into the kitchen and turns on the radio.
  21. mince
    cut into small pieces
    My hands move on their own, grabbing and slicing and mincing.
  22. saffron
    aromatic dried stigmas of a crocus flower, used as flavoring
    “Today you’re working with saffron. This isn’t a regular spice; it stains and it’s costly. A friend brought it back to me from Europe, so be precise with your knife work. Find a classmate; there’s not enough to go around to do this individually.”
  23. paella
    saffron-flavored dish of rice with shellfish and chicken
    “Good job, class. The chorizo on your cutting board wasn’t the highest quality, but when it is, this paella is really something special, and a staple in most Andalusian homes.”
  24. furrow
    make or become wrinkled or creased
    I give Pretty Leslie a head-nod and she looks between Malachi and me, her perfectly penciled-in eyebrows furrowing.
  25. censor
    subject to deletion on political or moral grounds
    Angelica slams the locker shut. “Don’t try to censor my language, Emoni, just because you slipped in front of Babygirl. But seriously, he didn’t know, right? So it was your story to tell, not hers.”
  26. naive
    lacking information or instruction
    Gelly hooks her arm through mine. “Emoni, not even you are that naive...”
  27. mellow
    become more relaxed, easygoing, or genial
    Angelica asks him about his intentions again, but it’s clear she’s mellowed out some and Malachi’s small shrug and sweet smile seems to be answer enough for her.
  28. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    He smiles wide. And I see Angelica falter. Angelica, who doesn’t even blink twice over Idris Elba, almost trips on herself at the sight of Malachi’s smile.
  29. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    She’s the starch in my spine, the only hand here to unfurl the wrinkles from my brows, the arms that hold me when I feel like I’m collapsing.
  30. activist
    a reformer who works to achieve social or political change
    My father is an activist, a big community organizer who holds monthly meetings and lectures at his barbershop in San Juan, so he’s often busy and yet he’s called twice in the last two weeks.
  31. superpower
    a country that can influence events throughout the world
    Julio’s clippers have turned off, which lets me know if I don’t jump in right now I’ll be on the phone for an hour hearing a rant on how we are taught to idolize international superpowers.
  32. hyperbole
    extravagant exaggeration
    Most of my father’s beliefs are based on hard facts that every now and then are seasoned with hyperbole.
  33. quirk
    twist or curve abruptly
    Malachi is the only person not pretending he’s not all in my business, and his eyebrows quirk in confusion, as if he’s stuck on Chef’s command as well.
  34. execution
    the act of doing something successfully
    “None of those ingredients were in the recipe. This isn’t the same dish at all. I can’t grade something that is more about creativity than execution. That wasn’t the point of today’s evaluation. So I won’t say it again: trash it.”
  35. rein
    any means of control
    Every day it seems ’Buela is stepping back, not just giving me full rein in Babygirl’s life, but also in my own.
  36. wean
    gradually deprive of mother's milk
    I’ve had to decide whether it was better to breastfeed or wean Babygirl early so I wasn’t dripping milk in class.
  37. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    Whether it’s safe to send my daughter to a daycare I don’t know, or try to coax ’Buela to raise a toddler when she’s tired and has other obligations.
  38. obligation
    the state of being bound to do or pay something
    Whether it’s safe to send my daughter to a daycare I don’t know, or try to coax ’Buela to raise a toddler when she’s tired and has other obligations.
  39. provisions
    a stock or supply of foods
    “I saw, of course I saw, Emoni. We are storing provisions at the shop and making sure generators are up and running in case power gives out. The barrio has a plan and I’m seeing to it folks are safe.”
  40. barrio
    a district in a Spanish-speaking country
    “I saw, of course I saw, Emoni. We are storing provisions at the shop and making sure generators are up and running in case power gives out. The barrio has a plan and I’m seeing to it folks are safe.”
Created on Mon Jun 24 21:54:32 EDT 2019 (updated Tue Jul 02 11:09:56 EDT 2019)

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