Words from The New Kids by Brooke Hauser

Wednesday December 28, 2011

The new kids: Big dreams and brave journeys at a high school for immigrant teens
Brooke Hauser

I read this book about the International School @ Prospect Heights (17K524) for my work reading group book club thing. It's a book of stories. I haven't read any fiction in a while. I guess I read some Douglas Adams over the summer. Maybe what I mean is, I haven't read any mundane fiction in a while. Not that the stories of the students and teachers are mundane - they follow the ordinary rules of physics is all. They're good stories. They give you a human view of a lot incredible lives. But it isn't a book of ideas, unless the idea is "let's have empathy" - and that isn't a bad idea.

It did have some interesting words!
umber
sable ponytail: seems to be just an ordinary ponytail
vitiligo: I had wondered about this and am glad to have a word for it now.
brackish (okay I do know what this means...)
atelier
scrim
Tibetan Spicoli: this one is interesting... it seems like the only place this phrase has ever been used is in this book. Is it a typo? Is it just overwhelmed by other uses? Seriously the only other reference I can find is some joker garbage on urban dictionary...
kitten heels
Les Brown: comical motivational speaker?
liminal space between
ebullient: cheerful and happy; I knew that...
skein (noodle): like a ball (skein) of yarn...
arrondissement: district of Paris
stupefaction (I guess I know this one too)
chafing-dish: those things they use to keep food hot at buffets
Batusi: THIS IS REALLY FUNNY
compas (re: bachata)
tulle (re: taffeta)
chignon
T-zone (cosmetics): apparently your forehead down to your nose makes a "T"?

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