And Then, Boom!: List 2

by Lisa Fipps
In this novel in verse, preteen Joe Oak is abandoned by his mother and loses his beloved grandmother, but kindness from friends, family, and strangers helps him get back on his feet again.

This list covers vocabulary from "The Quilt"–"Everyone Has a One Day."
Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5, List 6
25 words 24 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cozy
    enjoying or providing comforting warmth and shelter
    Everything about it is cozy.
  2. jagged
    having an irregularly notched or toothed margin
    I squeeze my new house key in my hand until
    the jagged teeth bite into my palm and
    make my skin smell like metal.
  3. uproot
    pull up by or as if by the roots
    Before we sold the house,
    Grandmum uprooted her prized rose of Sharon bush.
  4. tantrum
    a display of bad temper
    But the sidewalks around here look like
    the Hulk threw a temper tantrum,
    slamming his fists down on them
    and stomping his feet,
    creating cracks and craters in the concrete
    until they rippled into mini roller coasters
    I ride up and down on my way to school.
  5. shard
    a broken piece of a brittle artifact
    In the yards I pass,
    shards of glass
    outnumber the blades of grass.
  6. slither
    pass or move unobtrusively or smoothly
    Even more are abandoned and boarded up,
    with rusty chains like slithering snakes
    coiled around their door handles.
  7. swap
    exchange or give in exchange for
    The more we cut up and swap jokes,
    the more the bad stuff around us fades.
  8. culinary
    of or relating to or used in cooking
    Hakeem’s using a language-learning website,
    free through the library,
    to teach himself French,
    since he wants to go to culinary school in France.
  9. torture
    subject to intense feelings of suffering
    I can’t torture my taste buds like this.
  10. snag
    obtain by acting quickly or smartly
    In the afternoon, I snag two granola bars.
  11. poverty
    the state of having little or no money and possessions
    If I doodled poverty,
    I’d draw a reticulated python
    twisted into the shape
    of the infinity symbol.
  12. enormous
    extraordinarily large in size or extent or degree
    The three of us take turns
    carrying my enormous box of toilet paper.
  13. noggin
    an informal term for a human head
    Fill that noggin plumb full.
  14. scrub
    clean with hard rubbing
    No scrubbing loos for you.
  15. muss
    make messy or untidy
    She musses my hair
    and kisses the top of my head.
  16. urgent
    compelling immediate action
    Hunger is day-in, day-out lack,
    creating inside you
    an urgent need,
    a craving,
    a longing,
    for something you can’t survive or thrive without
    and yet
    you don’t have it.
  17. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    Uncle Frankie’s on a ladder trying to coax
    our neighbor Miss Blye’s calico cat out of a tree.
  18. slosh
    spill or splash copiously or clumsily
    The sugary slush sloshes against my back molar.
  19. dribble
    propel a ball by repeated taps or kicks
    Even tried to dribble them
    on the kitchen table.
  20. fleck
    a small fragment of something broken off from the whole
    Hakeem and I flop down on it after
    Uncle Frankie drives away, and
    flecks of brown paint fall off the rusty metal.
  21. sparkle
    reflect brightly
    I only notice her from the nose up
    when the sun sparkles off the rhinestones
    on her silver cat’s-eye-shaped glasses.
  22. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Rain tucks a napkin in at the neck
    of Candy’s makeshift dress,
    a grown-up’s plaid flannel shirt,
    and Candy swings her feet in the excitement
    of finally being fed.
  23. shiver
    a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement
    Just as I’m drifting off to sleep,
    Grandmum groans so loud that
    a shiver of fear shoots down my spine.
  24. adapt
    conform oneself to new or different conditions
    But they keep standing.
    Growing.
    Adapting.
    Surviving.
  25. depression
    mental state characterized by a despondent lack of activity
    One day,
    I’m going to find a cure for depression,
    Nick says.
Created on Thu May 08 03:41:08 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Jun 10 11:29:23 EDT 2025)

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