Ruby Lost and Found: Chapters 5–10

by Christina Li
While struggling to deal with the death of her grandfather and the separation from her friends, thirteen-year-old Ruby Chu decides to ditch school and ends up spending time in both detention and her grandmother's apartment in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–10, Chapters 11–17, Chapters 18–27
40 words 26 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. curtly
    in an abrupt and discourteous manner
    “They are pretty.”
    “Cool,” I said curtly.
  2. senile
    mentally or physically infirm with age
    “Spent the morning arguing with the cats,” Auntie Lin said in a bored voice, looking up from the crossword. “They think that just because I’m old and senile means they can trick me into feeding them two breakfasts.”
  3. stanch
    stop the flow of a liquid
    So while Liam was waiting to see the nurse, trying to stanch the flow of his profusely bleeding nose with his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt, I was passing him on the way to see the principal for ditching school.
  4. profusely
    in very large amounts or quantities; extremely
    So while Liam was waiting to see the nurse, trying to stanch the flow of his profusely bleeding nose with his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt, I was passing him on the way to see the principal for ditching school.
  5. self-conscious
    excessively aware of your appearance or behavior
    She was the kind of person who had a stare that made you self-conscious. Like you had spinach between your teeth or something.
  6. tepid
    feeling or showing little interest or enthusiasm
    He grinned from across the room and waved. I gave a tepid smile.
  7. steep
    set at a high angle (of a slope)
    All this time, my heart beat quickly and a kind of a thrill picked up in the pit of my stomach, like I was in the car with Dad going down one of those steep hills.
  8. arthritis
    inflammation of a joint or joints
    “You should wear socks at night, or you’re going to catch a cold and your knee joints will get all stiff.”
    “Okay.”
    “And you’ll develop arthritis.”
  9. discreet
    not easily noticeable
    Before we left, I checked discreetly to make sure she was carrying everything in her tote—her sweater, her heart medicine and her wallet, her phone, and a backup deck of cards just in case.
  10. pension
    regular payment to allow a person to subsist without working
    “Oh, she’s asking if Auntie Lin wants them to gamble away their pensions.”
  11. sulk
    be in a huff and display one's displeasure
    You think I want to be worried about you all the time? May asks me every day how to make you feel better while you’re sulking in the corner and I just know she feels awful about it.
  12. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    “That’s not it.” Nai-Nai’s voice faltered.
  13. listless
    marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm
    “What’s wrong?”
    May didn’t say anything. She just sank into the couch and looked ahead, listlessly.
  14. margin
    the net sales minus the cost of goods and services sold
    “But it’s still not easy for businesses here to make profitable margins.”
  15. bustle
    move or cause to move energetically or busily
    I spent the weekend in my room while Mom and Dad and Viv bustled in and out.
  16. dire
    fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
    I knew he would ask a billion questions about the bakery, and I didn’t want to hear them. The rest of us—Nai-Nai and Auntie Lin and I—knew just how dire this was.
  17. advocacy
    active support of an idea or cause
    We’ve scheduled meetings with our landlord and with some local community advocacy groups to discuss our options.
  18. stubborn
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    “Oh, right. Ye-Ye said you grew up near New York City.”
    “And I would have stayed there my whole life, too, if it weren’t for his stubborn self.”
  19. scalding
    extremely hot
    I learned that she liked tea first thing in the morning, scalding hot, so I began the electric kettle in the morning if I woke up before her.
  20. pore
    direct one's attention on something
    We pored through the pictures.
  21. docent
    a guide who leads others on a tour
    The museum docent told us that they wanted to keep conditions as similar as they would be in a rain forest.
  22. stationery
    paper cut to an appropriate size for writing letters
    There is nothing better than a Japanese stationery store.
  23. peruse
    examine or consider with attention and in detail
    That is, unless it’s a Japanese stationery store built across the street from a hardware and gardening store, because it was definitely easier to convince Mom and Dad to let us go if Dad could also peruse an oddly large collection of garden clippers across the street.
  24. trinket
    a small cheap ornament, knickknack, or piece of jewelry
    There were approximately three hundred different corners to get lost in, rows of stationery and trinkets to occupy us, and a shelf of the best Asian snacks including my favorite bear cookies stuffed with chocolate to last us for at least months.
  25. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    I passed scrunchies embroidered with cat ears and tea steepers in the shape of floating walruses.
  26. engrossed
    giving or marked by complete attention to
    “Marco’s Snapped you multiple times,” Em told Jenna, a girl with short dark brown hair who seemed engrossed in her phone.
  27. dappled
    having spots or patches of color
    I was saved by a purr at my elbow. Mango nudged her dappled head against my hand.
  28. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Ye-Ye grinned and reached into his bag and pulled out a makeshift game board, a grid with nine deep bold dots at the intersections of certain lines.
  29. sheepishly
    in a manner showing embarrassment or shame
    I sheepishly shoved my phone into my pocket. “Sorry.”
  30. wispy
    thin and weak
    Ye-Ye raised his wispy eyebrows.
  31. tinny
    thin, metallic, and displeasing in sound
    We heard the tinny blare of a radio playing old Chinese music coming from the other end of the park.
  32. blare
    a loud, harsh, or strident noise
    We heard the tinny blare of a radio playing old Chinese music coming from the other end of the park.
  33. surreptitiously
    in a secretive manner
    I nodded and followed him across the square, surreptitiously checking for texts.
  34. scrounge
    collect or look around for
    I scrounged up the five dollars I found in my backpack to buy a ticket.
  35. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    Nai-Nai listened intently.
  36. last resort
    something done or used only when nothing else works
    But I told myself there were more important things to worry about now. As in, the bakery. This was the last-resort conversation they were having, May Wong said.
  37. bewildered
    extremely confused and uncertain what to do
    Liam’s grandmother had a confused, bewildered look, turning to me from her grandson, and that was what made me feel the worst.
  38. ruckus
    the act of making a noisy disturbance
    I could hear Auntie Lin saying, “Let her go. She’s caused enough ruckus in this place already.”
  39. quip
    make jokes or witty remarks
    “They’re all gone now. But this one place has stayed.”
    “Because of you,” May had quipped from the counter.
  40. accumulate
    collect or gather
    Things accumulated on this table: Liam’s laptop bag, his grandmother’s yarn, May’s tea thermos, my mini backpack, and two decks of cards.
Created on Sun Mar 24 17:34:34 EDT 2024 (updated Mon Mar 25 14:47:58 EDT 2024)

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