The Season of Styx Malone: Chapters 15–23

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. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    He tilted his cap toward his ear, then sauntered away through the yard.
  2. compost
    a mixture of decaying vegetation and manure
    “We have to turn the compost,” Cory informed us.
  3. skepticism
    doubt about the truth of something
    “It looks pretty messed up,” Bobby Gene said. His voice oozed skepticism.
  4. pry
    move or force in an effort to get something open
    He pried at the bent axle till it groaned.
  5. commiserate
    feel or express sympathy or compassion
    “Shame,” Styx commiserated.
  6. woo
    make amorous advances towards
    Dad grinned again. “That’s how I wooed Angie here. She was a sucker for my sweet moves on the field.”
  7. copse
    a dense growth of trees, shrubs, or bushes
    Today we skipped right past the copse of birch trees and into the clearing.
  8. dowel
    a peg that holds two adjacent pieces together
    And it was covered, with thin sheets of something that looked like plywood. Painted brown, of course. Held up by a series of metal pipes as thin as dowel rods.
  9. flit
    move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
    She flitted away, like some kind of wood sprite.
  10. sprite
    a small, mythological creature with wings and magical powers
    She flitted away, like some kind of wood sprite.
  11. furrow
    make or become wrinkled or creased
    Styx furrowed his brow and pulled in his lip. “Huh. Never been fishing.”
  12. wry
    humorously sarcastic or mocking
    “Are you going to tell them why?” Styx said wryly.
  13. juncture
    a particular point in a process or activity
    “We’re going fishing,” I informed her. Dealing in facts seemed wise at this juncture.
  14. whirlwind
    a column of air spinning around itself
    “Fishing is cruel.” The words floated up out of the whirlwind that was Pixie.
  15. traipse
    walk or tramp about
    Bobby Gene handed Styx the third fishing pole and we traipsed into the woods.
  16. ruddy
    inclined to a healthy reddish color
    He was a thin man, with a ruddy, square face.
  17. commune
    share or interact intimately with
    “No, thank you,” she said. “I’m communing.”
  18. psychedelic
    having vivid colors and bizarre patterns
    So we left her dangling like a psychedelic squirrel and headed for town.
  19. reconnaissance
    the act of scouting, especially to gain information
    We were stealth agents on reconnaissance.
  20. vacant
    void of thought or knowledge
    His gaze, half vacant, was directed at the long car too.
  21. sedate
    characterized by dignity and propriety
    The driver nodded sedately to us as we passed.
  22. outlandish
    noticeably or extremely unconventional or unusual
    Any moment now, Styx would launch into some outlandish tale that could not possibly be true, unless he was some kind of celebrity.
  23. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    Styx puffed on his candy cigarette and scrubbed at the lunch box like it was going to save his life. It was gentle and tedious work.
  24. telltale
    disclosing unintentionally
    It had a faded blue and red picture on it. A cartoon man flying with his fists forward and a cape streaming behind. The telltale S on his chest.
  25. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    He glanced at me with clear disdain for my rule-following.
  26. docile
    willing to be taught or led or supervised or directed
    Mom was on to something with the water thing. No matter how squirrelly we felt when we burst in the door, by the time we’d chugged it all down we were looking pretty docile.
  27. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    The impending “talk” was not serious enough for Dad to be involved.
  28. ramble
    continue talking or writing in a purposeless manner
    “Only sometimes,” I rambled on. “In the afternoons, a little bit. We have our chores with Cory in the morning and all. We’ve been real faithful about that.”
  29. gripe
    complain
    “Styx wouldn’t have let Mom push us around like that.” I was griping so loudly, Bobby Gene started patting the air to quiet me down.
  30. strew
    spread by scattering
    We had LEGO pieces out strewn around the room.
Created on Thu Jan 10 16:28:20 EST 2019 (updated Thu Apr 25 10:04:34 EDT 2019)

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