Sal and Gabi Break the Universe: Chapters 27–34

by Carlos Hernandez
Sal Vidón is a 13-year-old who is struggling to adjust to a new school — and whose magic tricks can disrupt time and space. When he befriends Gabi Reál and attempts to use his powers to help her sick brother, neither seventh grader is prepared for the consequences.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–18, Chapters 19–26, Chapters 27–34, Chapter 35–Epilogue
35 words 12 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. ironic
    humorously sarcastic or mocking
    Computer programmers, all in ironic T-shirts and jeans, were swarming all over the black computer.
  2. bland
    lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting
    The woman in the skirt suit, finally realizing something weird was going on, pulled off the VR headset. There was something very...unblinking about her. She looked at me with bland curiosity.
  3. amble
    walk leisurely
    The woman nodded, then ambled up to Gabi.
  4. boisterous
    marked by exuberance and high spirits
    “¡Exactamente!” he said, a little too boisterously.
  5. flunky
    an underling of unquestioning obedience
    “South Korea started giving class-nine AIs full citizenship last year.”
    “And France did just last month,” added one of Papi’s physicist flunkies at the other end of the table.
  6. prosthetic
    relating to or serving as an artificial body part
    “So? People with artificial hearts don’t have heartbeats. Or maybe you have a prosthetic hand. I grew up in hospitals, Bonita. You can’t fool me that easy.”
  7. graft
    tissue or organ transplanted from a donor to a recipient
    “My skin is artificial. All over. Touch it.”
    “Maybe you needed skin grafts. Were you in a fire?”
  8. inadvertently
    without knowledge or intention
    “I appreciate you wanting to make amends for your actions, Sal. You’re worried that you’ve inadvertently done something bad by bringing back your mami, and you want to undo the damage.”
  9. dregs
    sediment that has settled at the bottom of a liquid
    “Yeah. So?” I answered, shaking the last dregs of cocoa into my mouth.
  10. poignant
    keenly distressing to the mind or feelings
    Iggy, Gabi had texted, had “suffered an episode” that “left the Reál clan in a state of poignant despair” all night long.
  11. vigil
    the rite of staying awake for devotional purposes
    Only Gabi’s mom “could enjoy the privilege of keeping vigil at the side of the incubator” this late after visiting hours, which was “one of the myriad indignities I and my fathers are forced to endure.”
  12. myriad
    too numerous to be counted
    Only Gabi’s mom “could enjoy the privilege of keeping vigil at the side of the incubator” this late after visiting hours, which was “one of the myriad indignities I and my fathers are forced to endure.”
  13. solace
    comfort offered to one who is disappointed or miserable
    I would gladly accept the solace of your company in this dark hour if I weren't in need of an even bigger favor from you.
  14. annotate
    add explanatory notes to or supply with critical comments
    Momentarily, I will send you an annotated list of the students whose notes you must copy for me. Some of them are more thorough than others, and all leave a great deal to be desired, alas.
  15. impeccable
    without error or flaw
    If, for example, I implied that she might lose her gossip column in the Rotten Egg, her notes for math and the History of Technology would be, and I quote, “impeccable.”
  16. bolster
    support and strengthen
    Aventura really wanted that article; she was going to use it to bolster her application to a costume-making summer program in Italy.
  17. plume
    the feather of a bird
    He had a calendar almost as big as the desktop, and he had jotted notes on it in a beautiful cursive script, like a Founding Father’s handwriting. The fountain pen he used, complete with white plume, stood proudly in the back right corner of the desk.
  18. comply
    act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes
    “I know. And I was acknowledging that I had heard you and was complying with your request.”
  19. coy
    showing marked and often playful evasiveness or reluctance
    “Don’t play coy with me, buster! I saw what you did there.”
  20. contingent
    a gathering of persons representative of some larger group
    Aventura Rios stood in the shade of palm trees with the cosplay contingent.
  21. browbeat
    discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner
    And before I could say anything else, she asked me, “Did Gabi tell you to browbeat me, the same way you manhandled Teresita?”
  22. modest
    humble in spirit or manner
    When Mr. Lynott didn’t bow with me, I elbowed him. “Oh, come on, Mr. Lynott, don’t be modest! You were fabulous!”
  23. vaudeville
    a genre of variety show with songs, comic acts, etc.
    I gave a big vaudeville laugh. “Wow, Mr. Lynott, you are totally method, aren’t you? But the trick is over. They loved it. Didn’t you love it, class?”
  24. huffy
    quick to take offense
    Then she walked away like a huffy supermodel.
  25. cipher
    a message written in a secret code
    She broke away from the cosplay clan, and we sat together for the next twenty minutes, creating a Caesar cipher out of her notes for Gabi. She told me what her notes said, and I rewrote them in code because, no joke, Aventura’s handwriting looked like someone had dipped a mouse in ink, set it down on a piece of paper, and then set its tail on fire.
  26. cummerbund
    a broad pleated sash worn at the waist with a tuxedo
    Daniel was wearing a tuxedo. I mean, like, a real tuxedo, the kind you’d see on Oscar night a hundred years ago. His red cummerbund looked like the smile of a whale.
  27. monocle
    lens for correcting defective vision in one eye
    The monocle dropped out of his eye and swung like a dead man on the end of its chain.
  28. render
    show in, or as in, a picture
    Shadows blotted out whole chunks of the room, like a video game in which the whole scene wasn’t rendered yet.
  29. patron
    someone who supports or champions something
    “Only I, Principalia, patron saint of principals’ principles, remain! I look down from the heavens and answer the prayers of confused educators everywhere!”
  30. unperturbed
    free from emotional agitation or nervous tension
    But freaky dudes in bauta masks don’t laugh. I sat there, unmoving, unperturbed.
  31. ploy
    a maneuver in a game, conversation, or situation
    “Seriously, Sal, are you okay?” she asked. “Did something bad happen?”
    Ploy to get me to talk, or genuine concern?
  32. regimen
    a systematic plan for therapy
    The padres asked about Iggy, and Gabi cheerfully related how well he’d responded to a new drug regimen, and how she just couldn’t wait for all this to be over and have her little brother safe at home.
  33. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Once the flan was gone, Gabi sidled over to American Stepmom and chatted her up.
  34. rosary
    a series of prayers counted using a string of beads
    She cried when she saw me, cried whenever one of Gabi’s dads came or left, cried as she accepted good wishes from visitors, cried when doctors and nurses told her there had been no change in Ignacio’s condition, cried as she prayed rosaries in groups, and cried to herself when she thought no one was looking.
  35. lavish
    bestow or expend profusely
    She lavished praise on the padres, telling them how wonderful it was of them to come visit, how good-looking they were, and what a caballero of a son they had raised.
Created on Wed Dec 11 10:48:54 EST 2019 (updated Tue Dec 17 13:12:58 EST 2019)

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