Shut Up, This Is Serious: Chapters 1-3

by Carolina Ixta
In this novel, high school senior Belén deals with panic attacks in the wake of her father leaving while she tries to help her pregnant best friend Leti prepare to be a mother.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapter 1-3, Chapter 4-6, Chapter 7-9, Chapter 10-13, Chapter 14-17, Chapter 18-20, Chapter 21-24, Chapter 25-28, Chapter 29-32, Chapter 33-37
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. pry
    move or force in an effort to get something open
    That woman holds the cross so tight in the house, it’s what she used to pry open Leti’s legs.
  2. routine
    an unvarying or habitual method or procedure
    The routine has been the same since I met Leti in the sixth grade—back when she’d get up early to dig her nose in a library book at school.
  3. typical
    exhibiting the qualities that identify a group or kind
    Typical nerd shit, she’d read him flashcards while he made eyes at her.
  4. miracle
    any amazing or wonderful occurrence
    It’ll be a miracle if people even notice Leti is pregnant.
  5. approach
    move towards
    When I approach it, I pass the bus stop Leti and I were waiting at this morning.
  6. leverage
    strategic advantage; power to act effectively
    Ava’s favorite thing to do was use my pa as leverage.
  7. excessive
    beyond normal limits
    We used to eat the way most families do, and it wasn’t excessive, but it didn’t rely on a seasoning packet for flavor.
  8. excerpt
    a passage selected from a larger work
    I reach for my backpack and pull out some poems I’m reading, excerpts from a collection by this nun named Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
  9. truancy
    failure to attend, especially school
    The school sells it to families as a way to prepare kids for college, because no principal is telling a parent to their face that their kid is in a low-level class for students with poor test scores or truancy issues or bad attitudes.
  10. illegible
    unable to be read
    Most of the books in my classes usually have penises drawn on the pages, missing covers, or entire chapters that are illegible from being warped by spilled coffee.
  11. lecture
    deliver a talk
    Leti lectures me about it sometimes, but nobody lectures me more than Ava.
  12. tethered
    confined or restricted with or as if with a rope or chain
    I lay there because I felt like I couldn’t move, like my body was tethered to the mattress.
  13. peacock
    show off or act overly proud of one's appearance
    She’s always in people’s business, always proudly bearing bad news and peacocking in her Ross outfits and clearance-rack Michael Kors purses.
  14. shift
    a qualitative change
    I slide my backpack down into my hand, preparing myself for the shift I experience when I enter the house.
  15. gaze
    look at with fixed eyes
    On the rare times she’s home, she just sits at the kitchen table, sipping tea and gazing off into the distance with emptiness in her eyes.
  16. domestic
    of or involving the home or family
    On good days, she criticizes my ma for having gone to college instead of learning how to be more domestic.
  17. audible
    heard or perceptible by the ear
    She was parked crookedly in the student lot, Al Green audible even with the windows rolled all the way up.
  18. sleazy
    morally degraded
    Apparently, he’d go to sleazy bars after work and pick up girls as young as Ava.
  19. gloat
    gaze at or think about something with self-satisfaction
    My tía Myrna perks up in her seat, the posture she has each time she’s about to gloat about something ridiculous.
  20. deadpan
    speak in a deliberately impassive or serious manner
    “I’m keeping my options open,” I deadpan, practicing my ma’s politician-style.
  21. waft
    blow gently
    She stood over it, smoke wafting over her face, asking why she couldn’t do anything right anymore.
  22. surplus
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    Our shower is always full of Ava’s half-baked experiments, the shelves stacked with mixes of conditioners and surplus shampoo bottles from Güera’s.
  23. examine
    observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect
    When I open it, I see her there, examining her split ends.
  24. evaporate
    cause to change into gas or steam
    It was like the feeling on my chest just evaporated.
  25. whir
    make a soft continuous sound, as of something in motion
    She leaves, quickly darting down the hallway, passing Ava and the sound of her blow-dryer whirring.
Created on Tue Apr 22 06:47:18 EDT 2025 (updated Fri Apr 25 18:58:42 EDT 2025)

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