The First Stone By Don Aker Vocabulary Part One Chapters 1 -3

1. loped p.4 He and the others cut across to the other side of the overpass where the cop couldn’t see them, then loped northward up Park Street. 2. rancor p. The rum had burned their throats, but it took the edge off their rancor and put – as Reef’s grandmother use to say- “a bit of glitter” on what otherwise had been a lousy day. 3. ornately p. 5 Gone were the ornately carved double doors and leaded glass windows that had adorned the original threshold. 4. adorned p. 5 Gone were the ornately carved double doors and leaded glass windows that had adorned the original threshold. 5. resigning p. 6 It was also clear that the city maintenance workers had given up the notion of ever keeping the building’s steps and walkway clear of debris, resigning themselves instead to the task of keeping it from overflowing into the street. 6. pit-bull tenacity p. 10 Jink had a pit-bull tenacity and a wild- eyed demeanor that, combined with the chip on his shoulder a mile wide, made people turn and cross the street. 7. façade p. 13 Two men got out and stood looking at the crumbling façade, talking and making notes on clipboards. 8. compulsory p. 16 Career and Life Management- It’s compulsory, and my teacher included twenty hours of volunteer service as one of the completion requirements. 9. stylized fuse p. 20 He reached the truck and stood starring at the words on the side, the letters formed from a continuous stylized fuse. 10. expletive p. 21 …the second a thin white line spelling an expletive between the words Eyesores and Assets. 11. geriatrically p. 21 As the air hissed out, he sauntered around the truck, repeating the surgery on each of the tires while the vehicle settled geriatrically to its rims. 12. expanse p. 21 ..all the while admiring the expanse of windshield before him. 13. eddies p. 23 She liked rush hour driving, like constantly having to watch the cars around her weave in and out of opening that appeared and dissolved like eddies in a stream. 14. jockeying p. 24 She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at the other driver’s jockeying for space around her. 15. immutably p. 24 The traffic light glowed immutably red. 16. tenements p. 25 the tenements he called home over the years had been surrounded by concrete and asphalt, oceans of hardness. 17. retched p. 25 Car after car whizzed by as he retched on the side of the road. 18. tirade p. 25 During the tirade, Nan slipped down into the ditch, where she moved aimlessly about in the long grass like someone lost. 19. devise p. 26 There were always rocks that didn’t seem to fit into the groups Reef would devise, and these they loved the best. 20. guffawing p. 26 Jink and Bigger had rolled on the ground guffawing as he’s choked and spat and cursed, his tongue already swelling from the burn.

Vocabulary Chapters 4 -6

1. underscoring p. 29 Ryan turned to the crown attorney, disbelief underscoring his words. 2. ricocheted p. 31 The Subaru ricocheted into the left lane and was struck by an inbound truck. 3. bravado p. 33 The lawyer stepped between Bigger and the reporter, whose bravado had disappeared in the face of Bigger’s menacing bulk. 4. incredulity p. 33 Elliott stared at them, his face a mask of incredulity. 5. lenient p. 34 The best strategy was to admit the crime up front and hope for a lenient sentence. 6. contrails p. 35 Twin contrails of smoke steamed from Reef’s nostrils as he looked at the sky. 7. muling p. 37 He’d heard she was into some heavy shit, that her dad had done some time for dealing drugs and now she was muling for him. 8. incessantly p. 40 off to her right, a bird called incessantly, its high pitched chirp continually punctuating the emerald stillness. 9. elicited p. 42 Lines now carved a face that in the past had elicited many admiring comments. 10. pustule p. 45 Her tone made the word boy sound as ugly as pustule or gangrene. 11. gangrene p. 45 Her tone made the word boy sound as ugly as pustule or gangrene. 12. barrage p. 48 Avoiding the damp fallout of Karl’s barrage, Reef glance down at the newspaper and saw a picture of a man and a woman being interviewed by reporters outside the courthouse where he’d sat the last three days. 13. fixators p. 50 “They’re called external fixators,” Dr. Mahoney said. 14. atrophy p. 52 We bring in a portable machine called a CPM that provides continuous movement so your muscles don’t atrophy. 15. wan p. 55 A wan, fleeting thing, but still a smile.

Vocabulary Chapters 7 -13

1. perpetrators p. 59 All of us here have seen many editorials in the paper and on television regarding the need to get tough on youth crime, to make examples of the perpetrators of these heinous acts that will deter others… 2. heinous p. 59 All of us here have seen many editorials in the paper and on television regarding the need to get tough on youth crime, to make examples of the perpetrators of these heinous acts that will deter others… 3. ramifications p. 61 I believe that you need to experience the results of such actions firsthand so you will understand their ramifications… 4. gauntlet p. 63 They still had to run the gauntlet of reporters on the steps outside. 5. guttural p. 68 …a guttural moaning that suggested someone in terrible pain. 6. cynical p. 69 Leeza was more cynical. 7. ominous p. 74 As the car idled, an ominous knocking sound reverberated under the hood. 8. reverberated p. 74 As the car idled, an ominous knocking sound reverberated under the hood. 9. hunkered p. 75 Hunkered down now on the passenger side of the Escort, Reef… 10. cacophony p. 79 Reef’s sarcasm was lost in the cacophony that was Matheson’s departure. 11. newel p. 80 Reef’s eyes were drawn to the newel post at the foot of the stairs. 12. ominously p. 82 …resembled those aluminum spaceships you saw in “B” movies on late-night TV, hovering ominously in the sky. 13. catheter p. 86 “Almost finished,” Carly Renolds said as she finished inserting Leeza’s morning catheter. 14. incontinent p. 86 Her problem was the reverse of the incontinent residents at Silver Meadows. 15. indignity p. 86 Until then, however, she would continue to be subjected to the indignity of plastic tubes and urine bags. 16. myriad p. 86 Leeza had already seen the myriad of photographs of a good-looking young man pinned to the wall above the other bed and mounted in frames on a table by the window. 17. sadistic p. 88 Most people hearing Stephen for the first time get this mental picture of someone being tortured by sadistic nurses. 18. ominous p. 91 Or maybe it was the ominous sound of the words “the first day.” 19. reveled p. 102 They’d reveled in being able to out dozens of yards and still stand only waist deep in the water. 20. arduous p. 103 The rest of the day was no less arduous, and pain was the constant companion who shared Leeza’s wheelchair. 21. embolisms p. 104 The group had been worried that Leeza might experience embolisms, obstructions of blood vessels caused by clots not uncommon after a bad fracture. 22.ashen p. 107 Her skin, already pale from weeks in a hospital room, now seemed ashen, and her face had a waxen quality… 23. impervious p. 111 Even Alex was silent, apparently now impervious to the toilet paper attack. 24. sanctimonious p. 114 …show that he was human and not just some psychology-spouting ex-con with a degree in sanctimonious bullshit. The First Stone By Don Aker Vocabulary Part Two Chapters 14-25

1. exuberance p. 123 But what Granter lacked in physical stature, he more than made up for in exuberance. 2. occupational therapy p. 125 The fourth floor housed occupational therapy and several doctors’ offices. 3. musculoskeletal p. 125 The sixth floor was the musculoskeletal trauma unit, which also included beds for patients who had suffered brain injuries. 4. prostheses p. 125 The seventh floor contained beds for patients with spinal cord injuries or who had amputations and were coming in for prostheses. 5. effervescent p. 126 Jim is one of the most effervescent people you’ll ever meet. 6. clairvoyant p. 130 No, I’m not clairvoyant. 7. impishly p. 133 “Yeah well, next time signal when you’re turning,” Brett retorted impishly. 8. debilitating p. 139 Teenagers who’ve had debilitating injuries worry about how strangers will react to them. 9. pissant p. 141 “And you’re a pissant, but I’m not holding that against you. C’mon. Guess.” 10. pretense p. 142 Leeza turned her head toward the wall. Or tried to turn it. Made the pretense of doing so. 11. prattle p. 145 “Oh, just listen to me prattle on.” 12. quintessential p. 145 She’s the quintessential performer,” he’d gushed. 13. guffawed p. 150 “Wonder if she bounced,” growled Jink, and Bigger guffawed. 14. emitted p. 152 The Escort seemed to churn as it started, backfired twice, emitted a plume of blue-black smoke and then coughed down the driveway. 15. melodious p. 152 Alex called after him, his voice theatrically melodious. 16. melancholy p. 154 Instead she just nodded, smiled, forced back the tears and allowed herself to slide deeper into melancholy. 17. noncommittally p. 155 Reef nodded noncommittally. 18.malevolent p. 161 Leeza shot her roommate the most malevolent glare she could muster, and Brett’s grin vanished. 19. coerced p. 161 Well, if they thought she was going to put on a happy face for some stranger who’d clearly been coerced into taking her off their hands, they had another think coming. 20. frumpy p. 162 She suddenly felt even more frumpy than she looked, and she shifted nervously in her wheelchair. 21. hilarity p. 163 And before long, curious patients and nurses were drawn into doorways to see what had caused such uncommon hilarity. 22. tirade p. 164 Even Diane, in the midst of her tirade, had begin to smile and chuckle. 23. metaphorically p. 165 Leeza had thought he’s been speaking metaphorically at the time… 24. dictation p. 168 Brett said slowly as if giving dictation. 25. manic preoccupation p. 170 What followed was an almost manic preoccupation with diet and exercise. 26. idiosyncrasy p. 171 Despite this idiosyncrasy, he’d been a good parent, caring and thoughtful. 27. compliance p. 171 Leeza smiled at the hint of compliance that had crept into her mother’s voice. 28. periphery p. 173 There had always been plenty of girls on the periphery, girls who skipped classes with him, smoked and drank, did whatever drugs were available for the taking. 29. seethed p. 178 Reef seethed at the idiots who ignored them. 30. reverence p. 178 Leeza stared up at the pictures on the menu with something resembling reverence on her face. 31. grimaced p. 181 “You want to sit for a bit?” she asked, then grimaced. 32. riffling p. 186 “Okay,”Leeza said as she stopped riffling through the discards, “I give up. What’s your secret?” 33. baffled p. 198 Bigger looked at him, baffled, then hauled himself to his feet and followed. 34. charitable p. 204 Her voice was terrible-someone more charitable would have called it “untrained.” 35. trilled p. 205 “You have no idea!” Leeza trilled. 36. recoiled p. 206 Reef recoiled as if slapped, the backward motion bringing him up against Brett’s bed. 37. audibly p. 207 He stopped, swallowed audibly. Took a breath. The First Stone By Don Aker Vocabulary Part Three Chapters 26-28

1. admonished p. 211 “Robie!” Mr. Brighton admonished, silencing several other students in mid-laugh. 2. ruefully p. 212 He smiled ruefully. 3. assent p. 212 There was a murmur of assent. 4. clobbered p. 213 “You know all those movies you see where somebody gets totally clobbered but then he hauls himself up…” 5. dubious p. 217 …whale-watched a pod of Orcas off the Queen Charlotte Islands from the dubious safety of a rubber dingy. 6. nonchalance p. 218 “As soon as I finish with it,” she said with forces nonchalance. 7. palpable p. 221 There was a terrible silence in the room, a silence so palpable that the air seemed thick with it. 8. hardscrabble p. 227 …and education was the only thing that could deliver any of them from the hardscrabble existence their families had known. 9. unerring p. 228 His ability to kick and volley a ball with almost unerring accuracy confounded both his coaches. 10. confounded p. 228 His ability to kick and volley a ball with almost unerring accuracy confounded both his coaches. 11. irrevocably p. 230 I couldn’t stop wondering how that teenager might cope with the knowledge that his recklessness had cost a life and irrevocably altered the lives of many others. 12. restitution p. 230 …to deal firsthand with the results of his actions, actually having to face the person he has hurt- not killed-and to try to make restitution.