Three key words to consider for the whole story are whirligig, penance, and atonement. A whirligig is a wooden toy that has arms that whirl or move whenever the wind blows. Brent has to make four whirligigs as memorials to Lea Zamora. A penance is a voluntary act that shows remorse for a wrongdoing. It is Brent’s penance to travel around the country and make and install the whirligigs. Atonement is the satisfaction of making amends for the wrongdoing. Brent is atoning for causing the accident that claimed Lea’s life.
Other random words that may be unfamiliar to general readers appear throughout the book.
Vuarnet sunglasses (Chapter 1, Party Time): Expensive and trendy sunglasses that Brent puts into his pocket and takes to the party as a status symbol.
Pawn (Chapter 1, Party Time): The chess piece with the lowest value. Can also mean a person who is being used by someone else. Brent could be considered one by Chaz, the party host, and even by Jonathan, the friend who goes to the party with him.
Ouija (Chapter 2, Weeksboro, Maine): A board used in séances to contact the spirit world. The act of “ouija walking” shows that Alexandra is into making spiritual or ethereal connections.
Guided imagery (Chapter 2, Weeksboro, Maine): Using words and/or music to imagine positive scenes with beneficial outcomes. Another illustration of Alexandra’s interest in spirituality.
Probation (Chapter 3, The Afterlife): The suspension of a sentence of someone convicted but not yet put into prison, with the conditions of continued good behavior and regular reporting to a probation officer. Brent gets probation for causing the accident.
Restitution (Chapter 3, The Afterlife): Making good for a loss or for damage. Similar to atonement, but without the emotional component.
Karass (Chapter 3, The Afterlife): A group of people who are spiritually linked. From the book Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, which Brent had read in school.
Shearwater (Chapter 4, Miami, Florida): A black and white sea bird. Flaco, the streetsweeper, wants to see one.
Concertina (Chapter 5, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star): A small accordion, a squeezebox, often associated as a sound of Italy. Someone in the hostel is playing one.
Suzuki violin (Chapter 6, Bellevue, Washington): A method for teaching young children how to play stringed instruments. Tony has been taking lessons for years, reluctantly.
Apprentice (Chapter 7, Apprentices): A beginner who is learning a craft from an expert. The children on the Florida beach are impromptu and temporary apprentices to Brent.
Contradance (Chapter 9, “Everybody Swing!”): A folk dance where the partners face each other in two lines. Brent participates in one in Maine.
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