Anything But Typical: Chapters 23–32

by Nora Raleigh Baskin
A twelve-year-old boy with autism strikes up an online friendship, but worries about meeting his new friend in person.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–12, Chapters 13–22, Chapters 23–32
20 words 167 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. irony
    incongruity between what might be expected and what occurs
    It is very hard to explain what irony really is. It is one of those abstract things like those similarity questions on IQ tests. It can be something someone says or something someone does or something that happens.
  2. virtually
    slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
    He had a special car built for himself that was virtually indestructible.
  3. malfunction
    a failure to work normally
    And then one day while he was taking a walk, one of the air hoses in his suit had a malfunction and the man died right there on the street.
  4. suffocate
    die from lack of oxygen
    He suffocated in his own invention that was designed to protect him.
  5. serendipity
    good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
    The word that came into my mind this morning while I was brushing my teeth was “serendipity.” I have never had my word have so much meaning to what is going on, which in itself is serendipitous.
  6. coincidence
    the property of two things happening at the same time
    My dad knocks on my door, so that for a second it seems that when I press send on my computer it makes a knocking sound on my door. That is a coincidence, but I wouldn’t exactly call it serendipitous.
  7. ricochet
    spring back; spring away from an impact
    I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why it is, but for some reason the news doesn’t ricochet around my brain. My head stays connected to my body.
  8. translucent
    allowing light to pass through diffusely
    Or maybe I would be one of those creatures, colorless, with skin so translucent you can see right through them.
  9. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    Placate.
    That’s the word that came to me this morning, as we were getting ready to leave for the airport.
  10. thermostat
    a regulator for automatically regulating temperature
    You can read the temperature on the thermostat, and nobody gets too mad if you turn that up or down, unless you keep doing it.
  11. anticipate
    realize beforehand
    I am supposed to anticipate being overwhelmed.
  12. overwhelm
    overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
    I am supposed to anticipate being overwhelmed.
  13. justify
    defend, explain, or make excuses for by reasoning
    We order the breakfast buffet in the morning.
    On other trips with my family we don’t.
    Because, my mother says, it is too expensive and we could never eat enough food to justify that kind of money.
  14. ravine
    a deep narrow steep-sided valley
    But because Bennu is so small, he has noticed the different types of soil and dirt, and he is able to direct the driver to just the right ravine, and right to the hospital.
  15. kin
    a person related to another or others
    “Next of kin?” she asks Bennu.
  16. dugout
    a shelter beside a baseball field for players and coaches
    Sometimes we sat in the dugout.
  17. mezzanine
    intermediate floor just above the ground floor
    It is in the Corral Room on the second-floor mezzanine.
  18. drone
    an unchanging intonation
    It’s easy to listen with the wild drone of the airplane.
  19. revise
    make changes to
    So first thing when we get home, I turn on my computer and revise my story.
  20. pun
    a humorous play on words
    Then Bennu hops down and fixes himself a little breakfast, no pun intended.
Created on Wed Feb 12 20:30:39 EST 2020 (updated Tue Feb 18 16:33:18 EST 2020)

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.