Summer of the Monkeys: Chapters 3–5

by Wilson Rawls
When 14-year-old Jay Berry Lee learned that there was a big reward for the return of the monkeys he and his hound Rowdy had discovered in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma, he was determined to catch them and win the reward for his family. He learned a lot about monkeys that summer, but it was the greater lessons about life and family that mattered the most.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–5, Chapters 6–8, Chapters 9–13, Chapters 14–19
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. strut
    walk in a proud, confident way
    I thanked Papa for going along with me on my monkey-catching business, and strutted off toward the house.
  2. kindling
    material for starting a fire
    I was out at the woodpile, splitting kindling, when he came sailing out of the henhouse.
  3. quavering
    (of the voice) shaking as from weakness or fear
    In a quavering voice, I whispered to Rowdy, “What in the world was that? It couldn’t have been a monkey. Monkeys are little bitty things. Whatever made that racket must have been as big as a barn.”
  4. waver
    move in a rising and falling pattern
    Over on my left a twig snapped and there was a padding of soft feet. Then ahead of me a small bush wavered as his ghostly shadow passed beneath.
  5. spindly
    long, thin, and often weak or fragile
    Anyhow, there he was, standing on his spindly legs, staring at those big red apples.
  6. squall
    utter a sudden loud cry
    “Rowdy,” I whispered, “you keep your eyes open and whatever it is that’s squalling like that, don’t let it get too close to us.”
  7. churn
    a vessel to separate butterfat from buttermilk
    Every move he made was as sure as Daniel Boone’s musket, and as smooth as the dasher in Mama’s old churn.
  8. somersault
    an acrobatic feat in which the feet roll over the head
    He started turning somersaults and rolling around on the ground.
  9. caper
    light-hearted recreational activity for amusement
    Now I had never heard a monkey laugh and didn’t even know they could; but as I sat there watching the capers of that big monkey, it didn’t take me long to figure out what he was doing. He was laughing at me.
  10. dumbfounded
    as if rendered speechless with astonishment and surprise
    I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even think straight, much less say anything.
  11. beady
    small, round, and shiny
    They were sitting around on the limbs, chewing away and peering at me with their beady little eyes.
  12. stout
    having rugged physical strength
    Papa was as stout as a grizzly bear, and I just knew that if he ever got his hands on that big monkey we would sack him up.
  13. satisfied
    filled with contentment
    “They stole them,” I said, almost shouting. “That’s how they did it. They stole everything I had. Now are you satisfied?”
  14. imaginary
    not based on fact; unreal
    “Now let’s say there’s a monkey out there and you want to catch him,” he said, making a long swipe at an imaginary monkey.
  15. lope
    run easily
    All he did that summer was lope around through the country catching butterflies in that net. He must have caught a million butterflies.
Created on Thu Dec 04 20:34:07 EST 2025 (updated Fri Jan 09 17:37:35 EST 2026)

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