Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library: Chapters 35–56

by Chris Grabenstein
Kyle and eleven other kids get the chance to stay overnight in Mr. Lemoncello's new, high-tech library. The children must solve a series of puzzles in order to find a way out of the library and win an amazing prize.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–13, Chapters 14–20, Chapters 21–34, Chapters 35–56
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. smug
    marked by excessive complacency or self-satisfaction
    “Not going to happen,” Charles said smugly. “Must I remind you? I’m a Chiltington. We never lose.”
  2. ornithologist
    a zoologist who studies feathered animals
    “It’s John James Audubon,” said Sierra. “The famous ornithologist.”
  3. roost
    sit, rest, or settle, as on a branch or perch
    A blackbird with a yellow beak flew into the open area and roosted on a tree branch.
  4. blubber
    cry or whine with snuffling
    “You owe me for wasting all this time, Andrew. You owe me big-time. If you let me down once more, I swear I will tell everybody you’re a big blubbering baby. I’ll Twitter it and post it on Facebook.”
  5. quip
    make jokes or witty remarks
    “I told you twelve plus two was bad,” quipped Mr. Lemoncello.
  6. grouse
    complain
    “Yo, none of us pulled a Clunker Card,” groused Miguel.
  7. blunder
    an embarrassing mistake
    “Team Kyle is not being penalized for Team Charles’s blunder,” he said.
  8. juggernaut
    a massive inexorable force
    “Indeed we did. However, not even that bit of bad luck can derail our juggernaut!”
  9. consistently
    in a systematic or steady manner
    “In fact, I suspect nobody would buy Lemoncello games anymore if we showed them how consistently easy they are to win. Anyway, we’re going upstairs so I can give Andrew a tour of my private suite. Would any of you care to join us?”
  10. snooty
    overly conceited or arrogant
    Kyle could totally see Holmes’s apartment at 221b Baker Street and the snooty king and the horse-drawn carriages on the foggy London streets and the disguises Holmes wore and the smoke bomb Dr. Watson tossed through a window and everybody on the street screaming, “Fire!”
  11. capital
    of primary importance
    “Because, like Sherlock says to Dr. Watson, ‘it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.'"
  12. theorize
    construct a hypothesis about
    “Because, like Sherlock says to Dr. Watson, ‘it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.'"
  13. ploy
    a maneuver in a game, conversation, or situation
    Kyle was busy helping Holmes figure out that the Red-Headed League was just a clever ploy pulled by some robbers to get a red-haired pawnbroker to leave his shop long enough for them to dig a tunnel from his basement to the bank next door when the librarian’s voice jolted him out of London and brought him home to Ohio.
  14. jolt
    move or cause to move with a sudden jerky motion
    Kyle was busy helping Holmes figure out that the Red-Headed League was just a clever ploy pulled by some robbers to get a red-haired pawnbroker to leave his shop long enough for them to dig a tunnel from his basement to the bank next door when the librarian’s voice jolted him out of London and brought him home to Ohio.
  15. crick
    a painful muscle spasm, especially in the neck or back
    “Why exactly are you suggesting we all give ourselves a crick in the neck by staring at the ceiling?”
  16. hysterical
    marked by excessive or uncontrollable emotion
    Andrew laughed hysterically, because it was one of the funniest jokes he knew.
  17. frumpy
    drab, old-fashioned, and unattractive
    A quiet old lady bunny in a frumpy blue dress hopped into the Rotunda Reading Room.
  18. stifle
    smother or suppress
    “Hi,” said Sierra, stifling a small yawn.
  19. cryptic
    having a secret or hidden meaning
    “It’s a rhyming picture book about Horace the Elephant’s eleventh birthday party and the search to find out who ran off with all the food. There are hidden messages and cryptic codes all over the pages.”
  20. throttle
    kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air
    “No we did not,” said Kyle extremely calmly, especially considering how much he wanted to throttle Peckleman.
  21. reluctantly
    with a certain degree of unwillingness
    “Mr. Peckleman, please approach the bench, which, in this instance, is actually a desk. Let me see the library card you used to gain access to Community Meeting Room B.” Somewhat reluctantly, Andrew handed it over.
  22. scandalous
    giving offense to moral sensibilities
    “How dare you make such a scandalous accusation? Do you have any proof?”
  23. compensate
    adjust for
    “Oh. I see. Like the one about the boy named Charles. Hilarious. Remind me to tell it to you sometime. Anyway, be that as it may, I insist that you be given a few extra clues to compensate for the fact that all your teammates are either being kicked out of the game or abandoning your ship.”
  24. preposterous
    inviting ridicule
    And what was all that nonsense about pine trees? Preposterous.
  25. beret
    a soft cap with no brim or bill
    Mr. Lemoncello had changed out of his judge’s costume into some kind of cat burglar outfit—black pants, ribbed black turtleneck, and sporty black beret.
  26. lode
    a deposit of valuable ore
    “‘The answer you seek…”
    He paused to listen.
    “...the key to this code...is a memory box...that holds the mother lode.’”
  27. addendum
    textual matter that is appended to the end of a publication
    Mr. Lemoncello touched his ear once more and continued, “‘And now, it’s time for the addendum.’”
  28. skitter
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    The wall on Kyle’s right swung open, revealing six swiveling sections, each pivoting panel maybe twenty feet long, all skittering sideways and gliding backward to create new walls and reconfigured pathways.
  29. elusive
    skillful at evading capture
    “And now—WHOOSH! He’s as elusive as the wind in the willows. You’ll have to discuss this with him the next time your family gets together for Thanksgiving dinner. Now, if you will excuse me, it is currently nine-fifty-eight a.m. Almost time to reopen the Dewey decimal chambers.”
  30. placard
    a sign posted in a public place
    She read a placard in the display case: “‘This plaid fedora from 1968 was worn by bank robber Leopold Loblolly, one of the notorious Dandy Bandits.’”
  31. placid
    not easily irritated
    “The time is now ELEVEN a.m.,” announced the annoyingly placid lady in the ceiling.
  32. entourage
    the group following and attending to some important person
    As he ascended the steps, two at a time, he saw Kyle Keeley and his entire entourage running down a staircase from the third floor.
  33. single-handed
    without help from others
    Charles smiled. He knew Mr. Lemoncello was about to congratulate him for defying the odds and winning the game. He had single-handedly defeated Kyle Keeley’s entire team!
  34. stammer
    speak haltingly
    Keeley was stammering. The fool didn’t know how to lie.
  35. yak
    talk profusely
    “Well, no one’s ever going to do it again if you blow our chance at winning this thing. So can we please stop yakking and find our way out of here?”
  36. array
    an orderly grouping
    Kyle placed True Crime Ohio into the array of crisscrossing beams.
  37. dumbfounded
    as if rendered speechless with astonishment and surprise
    They stared, dumbfounded, at the book sitting on the immobile belt.
  38. retract
    pull inward or towards a center
    There was a series of clicks, and the tiles began folding up on themselves and retracting into the floor, opening up like an origami trapdoor.
  39. origami
    the art of folding paper
    There was a series of clicks, and the tiles began folding up on themselves and retracting into the floor, opening up like an origami trapdoor.
  40. dingy
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
    Kyle looked up at the dingy casement windows, about ten feet above the cellar floor.
Created on Thu Jul 26 19:47:48 EDT 2018 (updated Mon Aug 06 14:21:59 EDT 2018)

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