The Darkest Minds: Chapters 7-11

by Alexandra Bracken
When the children who survive a plague develop unusual powers, they are rounded up and imprisoned in rehabilitation camps. Sixteen-year-old Ruby escapes from confinement and joins up with a group of other children fighting back against the government.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1-6, Chapters 7-11, Chapters 12-15, Chapters 16-22, Chapters 23-31
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. covert
    secret or hidden
    Which, of course, only drove everyone’s already hormone-drunk brains crazier, and turned some of my cabinmates into an elite breed of covert stalkers.
  2. revulsion
    intense aversion
    I could see the reflection of my round face in the rearview mirror—the big eyes that seemed almost sleepy; thick, dark brows; full lips—I could see the revulsion slide over it.
  3. strew
    spread by scattering
    All of the gas pumps were beaten in, their hoses and nozzles strewn across the concrete.
  4. conspicuous
    obvious to the eye or mind
    “We don’t have much time, but we need you to wash up and change into something a little less conspicuous.”
  5. chivalrous
    attentive and honorable like an ideal knight
    He may have thought he was being chivalrous by catching me, but he should have let me fall.
  6. intermittent
    stopping and starting at irregular intervals
    The store smelled like sour milk, though the drink cases were still flickering with intermittent electricity.
  7. titter
    laugh nervously
    I heard animals tittering inside it as I sprinted after her, keeping my eyes on the back of her gray T-shirt.
  8. ramshackle
    in poor or broken-down condition
    On the other side of the dead-end street was a line of little ramshackle houses, their windows boarded up like black eyes.
  9. vise
    a holding device attached to a workbench
    It was like someone had crushed my chest in a vise, spinning the handle until every ounce of air and courage had been squeezed out of me.
  10. drawl
    a slow speech pattern with prolonged vowels
    “Thank God,” he said, with a hint of a Southern drawl.
  11. unwitting
    not aware or knowing
    You’re safe, I told myself. They’re kids, too.
    Kids who had unwittingly put themselves in the line of fire for me.
  12. haggard
    showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
    His eyes darted over me, from my haggard face down my forest green uniform to my mud-stained shoes.
  13. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
    “I thought—”
    Chubs was the one to answer, his face ashen.
  14. gist
    the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
    I didn’t need to read more than the first two or three lines to get the basic gist: the president was too big of a coward to come out of hiding after a failed assassination attempt, so he sent his freak baby to do the dirty work for him.
  15. nondescript
    lacking distinct or individual characteristics
    It was small, no bigger than a pea, sewn into the otherwise nondescript shirt.
  16. sheer
    complete and without restriction
    Liam’s hand came out toward me, and the sheer panic at the thought of his touch had me jumping back, trying to put as much air between us as I could.
  17. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
    I nodded, mulling this over.
  18. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    When she first pulled me into the van, I thought she was just shy and skittish around strangers.
  19. insufferable
    extremely unpleasant or annoying
    “I mean...okay, the kid is basically a grumpy seventy-year-old man trapped in a seventeen-year-old’s body, but he’s only being this insufferable to try to push you out.”
  20. bounty
    payment or reward for acts such as catching criminals
    “Same with the National Guard and what’s left of the local police. I don’t know that they’d send a unit all the way out here on a tip. And unless they just so happen to have a resident bounty hunter in this neck of the woods, we’re going to be fine.”
  21. rake
    scrape gently
    I pulled myself up off the floor and lashed a hand out, catching the man’s cheek and raking my fingernails down as hard as I could.
  22. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    Something hot and sharp cut through the air, billowing out under Betty like a stinging cloud of sand.
  23. sordid
    foul and run-down and repulsive
    My long, sordid history with the White Noise included several episodes of fainting, vomiting, and memory loss, not to mention my most recent experience with bleeding profusely out of my eyes and nose.
  24. profusely
    in very large amounts or quantities; extremely
    My long, sordid history with the White Noise included several episodes of fainting, vomiting, and memory loss, not to mention my most recent experience with bleeding profusely out of my eyes and nose.
  25. beeline
    the most direct route
    He went out the sliding door behind my seat and made a beeline for the small cluster of silver water fountains that stood between him and the restroom entrances.
  26. glower
    look angry or sullen as if to signal disapproval
    Chubs glowered at me from over the rims of his glasses.
  27. stupor
    a state of being half-awake
    The sting that followed snapped me out of the hazy, numb stupor I was falling into.
  28. superficial
    of, affecting, or being on or near the surface
    He must have seen the corner of my mouth twitch, because he added, “But don’t think you’re going to get all the bandages—these are superficial wounds at best.”
  29. armada
    a large fleet
    “C’mon. They’re going to send out a whole armada for a few freaks?”
  30. hunky-dory
    good or acceptable
    I had two options at that point: crawl into the rear seat or tough it out in the front seat, while trying to act like everything was all hunky-dory and pretending that Chubs hadn’t just told me Liam was responsible for what might have been the only successful camp breakout ever.
  31. fanfare
    a gaudy outward display
    He kept swiveling his head back and forth, like he expected someone to appear and guide him in the right direction with road flares and fanfare.
  32. commonwealth
    a politically organized body of people under a government
    I thought it was fairly brave—or stupid—considering the commonwealth of Virginia had never considered it a priority to install lights on its highways and roads.
  33. adversity
    a stroke of ill fortune; a calamitous event
    “But hey, what’s life without a little adversity?”
  34. lass
    a girl or young woman
    “She’s a rare British lass in a crop of bloodthirsty Americans.”
  35. sap
    deplete
    I didn’t notice it until I was already outside, the darkening sky sapping away the last bit of the van’s warmth from my skin.
Created on Mon Apr 23 14:20:23 EDT 2018 (updated Wed Apr 25 08:36:42 EDT 2018)

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