WORD LISTS

"Rebound" by Kwame Alexander, List 1

Wed Jun 13 15:05:36 EDT 2018
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
After the death of his father, Chuck Bell spends the summer with grandparents and finds solace in basketball. Learn these words from the prequel to The Crossover.

This list covers "Looking Back"–"The Last Day of School."

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3

Here are links to our lists for other books by Kwame Alexander: The Crossover, Booked, Solo, Swing
rebound
It was the summer of 1988,
when basketball gave me wings

and I had to learn
how to rebound

on the court.
And off.
sleek
Sometimes, I wish

I was a superhero,
superfly
like Quicksilver
speed-racing
down the court
sleek as a sports car
faster than NASCAR
elevate
Wish I could elevate
my name
with game so good
it’s hall of fame!
muse
Air Jordan IIIs would be my muse.
And these zips would be old news.
alibi
My game’s so criminal,
I’d need an alibi.
impending
But Thor’s hammer
KABOOMS them
outta impending doom,
right smack in the middle
of an intergalactic civil war
between armed battleships
that makes Star Wars
look like a playground fight.
intergalactic
But Thor’s hammer
KABOOMS them
outta impending doom,
right smack in the middle
of an intergalactic civil war
between armed battleships
that makes Star Wars
look like a playground fight.
mortuary
My least favorite
was Dover, Delaware,
’cause the major tourist attraction

was a mortuary
jolt
Each day I wake to the BOOM BAP of
my clock radio playing rap
music, but today I’m blasted
by a loud siren that
jolts me awake and
sends me back to
that day when
my life
changed.
torment
...daring us
to step one foot
on her property
or commit a crime
(like throw trash
in her yard
or play hooky
from school)
so she can torture
and torment us.
truant
If you get caught
skipping school,
the truant officers
put you in jail
incessantly
My uncle smokes incessantly.
Huh?

It means nonstop. CJ kept saying I was talking incessantly, so I looked it up.
motto
After dinner
I turn on MTV
to watch
the music video

for “Parents Just Don’t Understand,”
which is hot
and funny

and the motto
of my life
inappropriate
I told you I don’t want you watching inappropriate
television.
flare
Her nostril flares up
her left eyebrow lifts—the look
when she’s about to trip out—so I
turn it off.
wring
LEAVE YOU ALONE!! Boy, l am this close to wringing your neck.
psychiatrist
Yes, I thought about a psychiatrist, or some sort of camp,
but I can’t afford—
fortify
Cereal is “fortified with iron,” CJ answers, conducting an
experiment on her cereal.

Forty-five with iron? What’s that?
Fortified, Skinny. To strengthen, as in—

AS IN, he interrupts, flexing his biceps, look at these
fortified guns I got, right?
geyser
I feel my face boil
and then a geyser
of peanut butter
and chocolate milk
shoots out
holler
Hey, Charlie, can you run in those busted sneakers?
Ivan hollers.
delinquent
Ivan

used to be
pretty cool
and fun
to be around
till he started
smoking
and hanging out
with a group
of delinquents
he met
in juvie.
theory
Ivan shares
his theory
that old people
take naps at five o’clock
every day
right before dinner,
so they
can stay up late
and watch
The Johnny Carson Show.
suspension
Nah! Got caught bouncing my ball in the hallway.
In-school suspension.
impersonate
I drift off

finishing
issue #2,
where the Skrulls
impersonate
the Fantastic Four
frantically
OKAY, OKAY, Mom, I say, frantically.
escort
...the front door is open
and she’s standing
on the other side
of it,
looking as mean
as a prison dog,
like she’s about to
escort me
to death row.
clench
my teeth clench
and I pray

there’s not a witch
or a warlock

or a woman
with a shotgun

on the other side
of the door.
musty
Her house
smells
like a cross
between grass
when it’s just cut
and Skinny
after gym class.

Musty.
detonate
The silence is booming.
Mom doesn’t say a word
until we get home.

Then
she detonates.
patience
She says she’s run
out of patience,
thinks I’m headed
down the wrong path
detention
School

is a dreadful blur
’cause CJ’s not here,
Skinny’s in detention
for bouncing his ball
in school,
and I can’t stop thinking
about my mess-up
cautious
Just come on up here and pet her, like this,
she says, rubbing her head. C’mon, try it.
I do, cautiously.
arthritis
I used to take
her to the park every day before my nap, but that arthritis is
something, I tell ya.
grief
I have to pack
and hope it’s not
for Disney World
or worse
some whack
summer camp
for kids with
grief.
unison
TO WHAT!?! she and Skinny say in unison.

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