Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun: Chapters 1–7

by Tọlá Okogwu
This first book of the series introduces junior secondary school student Onyekachi Adéyẹmí Adérìnólá, who must return to her birth country of Nigeria to learn how to control her hairy superpowers.


Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–16, Chapters 17–26, Chapters 27–36
40 words 39 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. waft
    be driven or carried along, as by the air
    Her face is shiny, and I can smell the coconut oil wafting from it.
  2. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    I feel the eyes and hear the sniggers following my bulbous head as we pass.
  3. rubbish
    nonsensical talk or writing
    Mum says I shouldn’t get angry or let it bother me when people chat rubbish.
  4. overwhelm
    overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
    Mum says he felt things too deeply and his emotions would take over, just like mine. It’s why he came up with the Fibonacci number sequence Mum then taught me—to stop his feelings overwhelming him.
  5. crow
    express pleasure verbally
    “I’m gonna get you for that,” she crows gleefully.
  6. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    I swivel around to see if anyone else has noticed, but the world is still moving, totally oblivious.
  7. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    Dark hair billows around me, dancing through the water, like swirling strings of blue-black ink.
  8. shaft
    a column of light
    As my vision goes blurry, an eerie silence takes over and shafts of light stream into the water.
  9. queasy
    causing or able to cause nausea
    I lose sight of her and the pounding in my chest begins again, but there’s also a new queasy tightness in my stomach.
  10. bound
    very likely; almost certain to happen
    CurlyUnicorn02 has the most amazing hair, and it’s bound to be a new twist-out or wash-and-go tutorial that I’ll never be able to rock.
  11. erosion
    the process of wearing or grinding something down
    Nigeria announced today that their decade-long effort to slow down the erosion of farmland in the Northern Provinces is proving successful.
  12. vital
    urgently needed; absolutely necessary
    Using a variety of regreening programs, such as water harvesting and tree conservation, they have managed to restore vital pasture lands.
  13. finesse
    plan, manage, or direct with subtle and skillful maneuvering
    Maybe I can still finesse my way out of this.
  14. traipse
    walk or tramp about
    “Look at your hair. Please, o tell me you did not traipse through Woolwich looking like a ragamuffin?”
  15. ragamuffin
    a dirty shabbily clothed urchin
    I don’t even know what a ragamuffin is.
  16. static
    concerned with electricity produced by friction
    Coils of hair the color of blue lightning curl out around me. I reach up to touch them and flinch at the tingle of static electricity that shoots through my hand.
  17. coarse
    rough to the touch
    My fingers move through the unfamiliar texture. Soft, yet strong, like strands of coarse silk.
  18. nostalgic
    unhappy about being away and longing for familiar things
    There’s always been something off about the way Mum avoids talking about my father. The bits and pieces I’ve managed to discover have either been by accident or when she’s in a nostalgic mood, which is when she gets chatty.
  19. delicate
    exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing
    Her dressing table was something else though. She’d found it in a charity shop, the rich dark wood and delicate curves so beautiful, she’d been unable to walk past it.
  20. recede
    pull back or move away or backward
    With each new number, my hair recedes bit by tingly bit, and a wave of nausea takes its place.
  21. dodgy
    of uncertain outcome; especially fraught with risk
    Mum is a bit like the dodgy tap in our bathroom. Once she’s had enough, you can’t get anything more out of her.
  22. stubborn
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    I really want to argue, but I know better. I give her my own stubborn look.
  23. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    What’s worse, my hair is a matted tangle of knots.
  24. tinge
    a pale or subdued color
    There’s a strange, gray tinge to her skin, and all her makeup is gone.
  25. waver
    pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
    Mum’s hand wavers for a second, before returning to her side, gripping the other one so tightly her knuckles shine.
  26. scrawl
    poor handwriting
    On the back, written in Mum’s scrawl, was the name Benjamin.
  27. determination
    firmness of purpose
    “No!” says Mum, a quiet determination in her voice. “I’m not watching you go through that again. I’m going to get some answers...and that means finding your father.”
  28. petrified
    struck with fear and unable to move
    I’m still feeling weak, and I was petrified that my hair would freak out again.
  29. reckon
    expect, believe, or suppose
    I was poking it so much I reckon the old lady next to me thought I had head lice or something.
  30. banter
    light teasing repartee
    He just has natural banter. He’s not my actual uncle, but Mum says I’m not allowed to call him by his first name.
    “Hey, Onyeka,” he says, giving me a high five. He’s always super nice and chirpy...in a way that isn’t entirely normal for a parent.
  31. snooty
    overly conceited or arrogant
    But even though they’re rich, Cheyenne and her parents aren’t snooty about it.
  32. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    I find Cheyenne in her usual spot, sprawled on the brown leather recliner sofa, watching TV.
  33. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
    “Think about it—how could I have pulled us out? I can’t even swim that well.”
    Cheyenne shrugs. “I did wonder about that, but adrenaline can make people do all sorts of things.”
  34. cog
    tooth on the rim of gear wheel
    I can practically hear the cogs in her brain turning.
  35. queue
    form a line or stand in line
    We’d been queuing for ages to meet the star of Cheyenne’s favorite TV show.
  36. glare
    look at with a fixed or angry gaze
    She glares at me even harder, shooting me a clear warning.
  37. niggle
    worry unnecessarily or excessively
    A secret worry niggles at the back of my mind.
  38. materialize
    come into being; become reality
    I follow reluctantly, when suddenly a huge, black jet materializes in the sky out of nowhere.
  39. luminescent
    emitting light not caused by heat
    Across his nose sits a pair of glasses, the lenses reflecting a strange, luminescent glow.
  40. noble
    having high or elevated character
    He reminds me of a drawing of a noble warrior I once saw in a library book.
Created on Thu Dec 21 16:17:58 EST 2023 (updated Fri Dec 22 12:58:05 EST 2023)

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