The Thing About Luck: Chapters 7–11

by Cynthia Kadohata
Summer is a twelve-year-old Japanese-American girl who learns more about her family, her heritage, and herself during a harvest season filled with bad luck.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–11, Chapters 12–16
35 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. monotone
    an unchanging intonation
    “I love housework—not,” Robbie read in a monotone.
  2. profound
    showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth
    He looked at me thoughtfully, as if I had just said something profound.
  3. hydraulic
    moved or operated or effected by liquid
    I check all the fluid levels—the engine oil, the water, the hydraulic oil.
  4. sickle
    an edge tool for cutting grass or crops
    Then I look over the sickle sections and guards.
  5. consist
    be composed of
    Our family consisted of farmers and fishermen as far back as anyone knew, but when I’d sneaked a peek at his paper earlier, he’d claimed we had several samurai in our background.
  6. compulsive
    having obsessive habits or irresistible urges
    One psychologist said he had ADHD, one said he had PDD-NOS, and one said he was OCD. I wasn’t sure what the initials stood for except for OCD, which meant “obsessive- compulsive disorder.” That was why he would use only his three special cups.
  7. earnest
    characterized by a firm, sincere belief in one's opinions
    I really wanted to go out there to see Robbie, but Jaz’s earnest expression—with a few scars on his forehead—told me that he needed my full attention right then.
  8. preface
    a short introductory essay preceding the text of a book
    “Oh, honey, you must read the preface. It’s my whole theory of cooking. I just wrote it this year. It needs to be a tad crunchier.”
  9. deviate
    be out of line with
    “This must be the last time, and I do mean the last, that you deviate from a recipe.”
    Obaachan said, “What ‘deviate’?”
    “It means change,” Mrs. Parker answered.
  10. quarters
    housing available for people to live in
    Then I felt kind of shy about going over to the drivers’ quarters.
  11. unperturbed
    free from emotional agitation or nervous tension
    “Mostly Americans, and he charges them a thousand euro a tour. He probably makes the circles by himself!”
    Mick chewed on a sausage, unperturbed.
  12. stunt
    check the growth or development of
    Obaachan said I couldn’t drink coffee because it would stunt my growth.
  13. gullible
    easily tricked because of being too trusting
    “Nothing wrong with gullible. How you be happy if not gullible?”
  14. ruthless
    without mercy or pity
    “Nobody can sleep, anyway, because Rory snores so loud,” Sean said, almost ruthlessly. “He’s useless, he is.”
  15. ramble
    move about aimlessly or without any destination
    Mr. McCoy rambled in, looking seriously like he needed more sleep.
  16. chiropractor
    a therapist who manipulates the body to ease pain
    “She’s gone to seventeen different doctors, six chiropractors, and three acupuncturists, and nobody knows exactly what’s causing the pain.”
  17. gawky
    awkward and clumsy in movement or posture
    “The height’s in his legs,” Robbie said. “They’re so long, he looks kind of gawky. Usually shires are stockier.”
  18. speckle
    mark with small spots
    And there was Thunder, holding a speckled hen in his mouth, shaking it wildly.
  19. assess
    estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
    Then I turned to assess the damage.
  20. venture
    proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
    The farmer had said that the best way to cure a dog of killing chickens was to tie a dead chicken around its neck for a week and let the chicken rot. My parents had refused to do that, and fortunately, Thunder had not ventured into the neighbor’s farm again.
  21. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    When we reached the campers, we came to a halt, looking around furtively.
  22. remnant
    a small part remaining after the main part no longer exists
    The remnants of breakfast were gone.
  23. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    “But I warn you, you tell me something that give me heart attack, my death on your conscience forever.”
  24. engrossed
    giving or marked by complete attention to
    Jaz took down his math workbook and was immediately so engrossed, he probably wouldn’t
 even have noticed if there was a tornado—he’d just keep working while he was swirling around in the air.
  25. remorseful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    A moth landed on me, and I smashed it hard on my arm. Instantly remorseful, I said, “Sorry, mothie.”
  26. foyer
    a large entrance or reception room or area
    She invited me inside, then she turned to pick up something from a small table in the foyer.
  27. intersperse
    place between or among
    On the table in the foyer there was a lamp that was darkish silver glass interspersed with lighter silver glass in the shape of flowers.
  28. intuition
    instinctive knowing, without the use of rational processes
    As I was handing him the money, my intuition told me that he had exaggerated how much his chickens were worth.
  29. vicinity
    a surrounding or nearby region
    “You let your dog run wild in the vicinity of my house?” he asked.
  30. in tandem
    with one beside or behind the other
    The combines were still churning away, the sound growing louder as they moved nearer, their lights shifting in tandem.
  31. whim
    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
    On a whim I untucked my sheet and put my pillow on the south end of the bed. Maybe I’d have even better luck tomorrow.
  32. loll
    hang loosely or laxly
    Jaz’s head was lolling toward his shoulder, but he wasn’t too sick to say, “I think a mosquito flew into your mouth.”
  33. bound
    very likely; almost certain to happen
    Close up, the sound was always thunderous—each of the machines we were using weighed more than thirty thousand pounds, and that was bound to make some noise.
  34. casually
    in an unconcerned manner
    Then he casually reached his arm around my shoulder.
  35. giddy
    exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits
    “MYOB,” I told him. But I felt giddy.
    “I’ll take that as a yes. I think it would make me throw up to kiss you.”
Created on Tue Mar 22 09:48:25 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Apr 01 14:32:55 EDT 2022)

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