Popcorn: Chapters 9–10

by Rob Harrell
Anxious, lanky, middle schooler Andrew Yeager experiences his worst nightmare, a full-blown panic attack in front of his classmates, after encountering many misfortunes on the same school day. Friendship, humility, and humor help Andrew cope with his very difficult day, which ultimately results in freedom from a longtime bully, and receives the compassion of his peers.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–6, Chapters 7–8, Chapters 9–10, Chapters 11–12, Chapters 13–14, Chapters 15–16,
15 words 20 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. thoroughly
    completely and absolutely
    We sit down and—after I thoroughly clean the table with a wipe, of course—start pulling out our lunches. Mine from a crumpled paper bag and Jonesy’s from a fancy little Thermos brand box with a whale embroidered patch on the front. Sure enough, my PB&J comes out of the bag looking like a sumo wrestler used it as a sparring partner.
  2. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    We sit down and—after I thoroughly clean the table with a wipe, of course—start pulling out our lunches. Mine from a crumpled paper bag and Jonesy’s from a fancy little Thermos brand box with a whale embroidered patch on the front. Sure enough, my PB&J comes out of the bag looking like a sumo wrestler used it as a sparring partner.
  3. spar
    practice boxing or fighting
    We sit down and—after I thoroughly clean the table with a wipe, of course—start pulling out our lunches. Mine from a crumpled paper bag and Jonesy’s from a fancy little Thermos brand box with a whale embroidered patch on the front. Sure enough, my PB&J comes out of the bag looking like a sumo wrestler used it as a sparring partner.
  4. sarcastic
    expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds
    Kylee makes a face. “Ouch. Well…” She shrugs. “Basketballs can be hard.”
    I’m not sure if she’s being sarcastic, so I just cram more PB&J in my face.
  5. snob
    a person regarded as arrogant and annoying
    She stares back for a minute. She looks kind of irritated and I feel that in my stomach. “You can be snotty sometimes. You need to work on that.”
    I shrug and say I’m sorry again, but we’ve had plenty of conversations. She knows I’m not a snob—just uncomfortable around new people sometimes.
  6. hereditary
    occurring among members of a family usually by heredity
    Jonesy nods. She seems to have let the Kylee thing go. For now. “Between us, my dad has done some business with Gene’s dad and thinks he’s a horrible human being. So…maybe it’s hereditary. In his DNA, or something.”
  7. repulsive
    offensive to the mind or senses
    Kendrick bumps my shoulder. “Hey. Listen. Can I borrow your ketchup bottle?”
    “Please. Take it away.” I find ketchup repulsive. I know I’m in the minority, but I do. The smell, in particular. I push it over to him.
  8. minority
    a group of people who differ from a larger group
    Kendrick bumps my shoulder. “Hey. Listen. Can I borrow your ketchup bottle?”
    “Please. Take it away.” I find ketchup repulsive. I know I’m in the minority, but I do. The smell, in particular. I push it over to him.
  9. frantic
    excessively agitated; distraught with violent emotion
    My inner popcorn kernel’s oil temperature bumps up a degree.
    “I’m fine. Is something wrong? Is it G?” Anxiety sinks its long teeth into my shoulders.
    She takes a deep breath and lets it out in a whoosh. “I’m sorry to bother you, Andrew, but…(frantic sigh)…I can’t find your grandma, honey.”
  10. shudder
    tremble convulsively, as from fear or excitement
    “You okay?”
    I feel like there’s a blue whale...crushing my chest, and my shoulders have that buzzy, too-much-electricity ache and I’m shaking a little as I look back at her, reaching for the right words.
    No. No attack. No panic attack. Not here.
    “I…” My breath shudders out of me like I’m cold. “No. Not okay. I don’t feel okay at all.”
  11. escapade
    a wild and exciting undertaking
    This isn’t the first time G has wandered off. ...My mom calls them Housecoat Escapades when she’s talking to G. It sounds funny, and I think she’s just trying to keep things light, but there’s nothing funny about them.
  12. tether
    restraint consisting of a rope or chain
    I talked about G’s escapes with Dr. Cain. About how weird it is to have this woman who partly raised me be so not herself that we have to watch her like a toddler. How my mom’s been looking at childproof locks for the front door to protect G from herself. (Now I wish we’d already installed them.) I made a joke that we could get one of those dog tethers from her leg to the couch, but my mom didn’t find that amusing.
  13. stifle
    smother or suppress
    Dr. Cain asked me once what the hardest part of having her live with us was.
    I started to slide my fingers under my leg to stifle the need to tap—but then just let the tapping happen, as Dr. Cain is well aware of it. Hiding it is a habit.
    I thought for a second. “The guilt?”
    “Guilt about what?”
    “About being super hugely crazy annoyed by her?”
  14. habit
    an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a situation
    Dr. Cain asked me once what the hardest part of having her live with us was.
    I started to slide my fingers under my leg to stifle the need to tap—but then just let the tapping happen, as Dr. Cain is well aware of it. Hiding it is a habit.
    I thought for a second. “The guilt?”
    “Guilt about what?”
    “About being super hugely crazy annoyed by her?”
  15. inconvenient
    not suited to your comfort, purpose or needs
    “I feel bad. I mean, she’s G, but she’s also so, so not. And it’s just…” I looked around the room trying to find the right word. “Inconvenient! I feel terrible saying that—I really do—but it is!” There was a whininess in my voice that I hated.
Created on Sun Apr 06 12:53:22 EDT 2025 (updated Mon Apr 14 14:06:40 EDT 2025)

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.