The Season of Styx Malone: Chapters 7–14

by Kekla Magoon
During one action-packed summer, brothers Caleb and Bobby Gene team up with smooth schemer Styx Malone in an attempt to escape their small town.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–14, Chapters 15–23, Chapters 24–37, Chapters 38–54

Here are links to our lists for other works by Kekla Magoon: X: A Novel, The Rock and the River
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. trowel
    a small hand tool with a handle and metal blade
    Bobby Gene drew the line with the hoe and Cory and I followed with trowels, digging it deeper.
  2. deem
    judge or regard in a particular way
    Cory deemed my find “interesting.” It pretty much looked like a regular rock to me.
  3. bluff
    deceive someone about your strength or intentions
    Bobby Gene’s bluffing skills were right up there with his vocabulary.
  4. glower
    look angry or sullen as if to signal disapproval
    Cory crossed his arms and glowered at us.
  5. amble
    walk leisurely
    Styx ambled up while we were putting the tools away.
  6. wary
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    Cory turned wary. “Who’s that?”
  7. retort
    answer back
    “Then we’re not at liberty to say what happened to them,” Bobby Gene retorted.
  8. philosophical
    relating to the investigation of existence and knowledge
    Styx grinned. “Well, that was downright philosophical.”
  9. morality
    the quality of being in accord with right or good conduct
    Styx shrugged. “I’m not trying to teach you morality. I’m telling you how it is.”
  10. yarn
    giving an account describing incidents or a course of events
    “You ever hear about the guy who turned a paper clip into a house?”
    We hadn’t. So Styx spun us a fabulous yarn.
  11. reverent
    feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
    His voice hushed reverently. “Behold.”
  12. thorax
    the body of an arthropod between the head and the abdomen
    It looked like a giant grasshopper. Green head, thorax, abdomen.
  13. emboss
    raise in a relief
    Gold letters embossed on the abdomen read S375-681W.
  14. delinquent
    guilty of a misdeed
    We were way out of bounds and technically delinquent.
  15. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “Where will we go first?” I mused aloud.
  16. fauna
    all the animal life in a particular region or period
    “We can tell you anything you want to know about the local fauna.” That sounded impressive, I thought. Local fauna.
  17. sage
    having wisdom that comes with experience
    Bobby Gene nodded sagely. “We used to have snail races.”
  18. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    “Oh, honey. Not quite so much butter,” Mom chided.
  19. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    My skin flushed.
  20. heft
    lift or elevate
    Bobby Gene hefted the gunnysack up from behind the fallen log where we’d stashed it.
  21. cryptic
    having a secret or hidden meaning
    “You’ll see.” Styx was forever cryptic.
  22. intrigue
    a crafty and involved plot to achieve your ends
    A good spy should lean into intrigue, no matter what.
  23. festoon
    decorate or adorn
    We kept going along another dirt road, until we met a chain link fence festooned with KEEP OUT signs.
  24. exertion
    use of physical or mental energy; hard work
    “Is this the place?” Bobby Gene’s face was red from exertion. Those fireworks weren’t exactly light.
  25. leverage
    the mechanical advantage gained by a machine on a fulcrum
    My heart pounded as I used the KEEP OUT sign for leverage.
  26. stocky
    having a short and solid form or stature
    Then he struggled to lever his stocky self up and over after us.
  27. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    Styx scoffed. “It’s worth more than that. You’re looking at three hundred dollars’ worth of fireworks, easy.”
  28. rut
    hollow out in the form of a cut or groove
    We piled the car parts in the wagon. I rolled it along, easing it over the rutted ground.
  29. mull
    reflect deeply on a subject
    Robo stuck his chin forward, mulling on it.
  30. confer
    have a meeting in order to talk something over
    “Hang on. Let me confer with my gents a moment.” Styx pulled us aside. “This is a good deal. We should take it.”
Created on Thu Jan 10 16:27:38 EST 2019 (updated Thu Apr 25 10:04:25 EDT 2019)

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