WORD LISTS

"Unfadeable" by Maurice Broaddus, Chapters 1–5

Thu Dec 14 13:17:01 EST 2023
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
Living on her own, thirteen-year-old Isabella Fades tries not to attract the attention of anyone who might report her to Indiana's Department of Child Services, but then she discovers that her community is not getting their fair share of the collected taxes.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–11, Chapters 12–18, Chapter 19–Epilogue
trifling
I recognize the officer driving it by his trifling mustache, looking like he pasted squirrel fur on his upper lip.
tawny
Her sepia skin color is darker than my tawny complexion—my light skin is the only trace left behind by my father.
fleck
Her eyes are my masterpiece. Bronze with gold flecks in them.
chisel
With the number 1906 chiseled onto its cornerstone, it looked like another house overgrown with weeds and ivy.
refurbish
Since it’s on our block, the city had forgotten about it, but she organized folks to help refurbish it into a community space.
convention
Two o’clock weekday meetings don’t make sense. Naturally, the crowd outside the library is mostly a blue-hair convention, since the only people who can attend are retirees, the unemployed, and the people paid to be there.
strut
She wears it like a crown and half struts, yet doesn’t quite meet people in the eye.
mode
Her eyes, always on scan mode, are like everyone’s at my school when they bump into me: constantly searching for someone better to talk to.
subtle
I make my lip tremble. Just a level one tremble—subtle but noticeable.
scrounge
Not wanting to study him any closer, I scrounge around in my book bag until I come up with my phone charger.
complexion
I thought my complexion was light, but the old man’s practically white compared to me.
tout
His collared shirt is unbuttoned, revealing a T-shirt touting a group called The Last Poets, who look like the great-granddads of a rap group.
petty
“Good afternoon. For those who don’t know...” Her voice trails off a bit, giving her room to launch a petty smile. The kind of fake grin that means, if folks have gathered here, they should know who she is.
drone
The woman next to her drones on about past business, committee updates, and budget items as I realize someone is perched beside me.
vitiligo
Vitiligo spreads along her hands. It’s a skin condition some folks get where they start to lose their color.
stoop
He raises the microphone to keep from stooping down to it.
overwhelm
Even with only the couple dozen or so folks present, the room has grown hot enough to overwhelm the barely working air-conditioning.
august
“Anyway, the Corner is doing so well, we’re running into a parking issue. I’d like to submit a proposal to this august body to possibly purchase the lot next to the center and partner with you to turn it into a parking lot.”
allotted
“Yes, you were. While we appreciate the passion of our young people”—her face is a wad of wrinkles over the microphone—“the fact of the matter is that any funding falling under ‘art’ or ‘education’ has already been allotted for infrastructure.”
agenda
“This actually brings us to a last item of business I wanted to add to our agenda.”
casually
Like I said, I know when I’m not being taken seriously, and I hate it even more when I’m so casually ignored.
forge
At least once a week they send a note home about it for my mom to sign. Which means at least once a week I have to forge her signature.
allocate
“We’ve already decided to allocate CISC’s money from the TIF. The recipients have already been chosen.”
poise
Inhaling a calming breath, she straightens taller in her seat with the dignified poise of a queen.
prominent
Only the city’s most prominent families live there. Golden Hill is so extra they have their own police guarding their little housing division.
submission
The largest one, Phineas, is a sleek black cat with too much belly and too short of legs who still manages to boss the other cats into submission.
foundation
My dad was a manager at some foundation. I never quite understood what it was, but I knew it was important. Anytime someone mentioned its name, people stiffened or their eyes widened. It gave away money to “folks doing good work,” he said.
complement
She’d choose his ties or his pocket squares, always to draw out or complement the icy blue of his eyes.
cryptic
Ms. Campbell sounds all cryptic, like her words are supposed to mean something to me.
venture
“I’m heading over that way,” I venture, hoping whatever she’s holding back on might trip out.
negotiate
It’s like there are a series of invisible boundaries I have to negotiate carefully.
umber
His government name is Michael and his umber coloring makes his resting mean-mug face more intense and serious.
custom
He got it in his head that he wanted to start his own custom T-shirt company.
cue
He spits, off to the side. That’s my cue to start running back the way I came, checking over my shoulder to see what kind of lead I have on them.
grudge
Who knows when I’ll be able to make it back this way, especially with these two clowns looking for me? They’ve been known to hold a grudge for a minute.
smug
I want to figure out what she’s up to, wipe that smug smirk off her face, and see what’s up with the park situation.
shingle
Once Aaries is out of sight, I turn to go toward the house. I pass a mound of brick, asphalt, and torn shingles piled and shaped into a statue of a face.
corrugated
An awning of corrugated metal serves as the roof for those times he wanted to paint or sculpt outdoors.
obscure
Framed photos and paintings hang on the walls, obscured by the dim lighting.
rivet
Grover stands closest to the door, with fingers of wound copper wire, a body of rivets, hair made from pipes, and a face molded from furnace scrap.

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