Ruby Holler: Chapters 18–25

by Sharon Creech
Twins Dallas and Florida have been in and out of foster homes their entire lives—will they be able to trust their unconventional new guardians and find a home in Ruby Holler?

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–17, Chapters 18–25, Chapters 26–45, Chapters 46–66

Here are links to our lists for other works by Sharon Creech: Walk Two Moons, The Unfinished Angel
35 words 29 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. inadequate
    lacking the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task
    They brought out the worst in her, made her feel so inadequate, but still she felt uneasy now, as she always did when the twins went off to a new home.
  2. surly
    unfriendly and inclined toward anger or irritation
    Sooner or later they’d be back, and Florida would be more surly, and Dallas would be more spacey and clumsy, and all the rules would be broken, and any calm that might have been restored in their absence would be shattered.
  3. frail
    physically weak
    Remaining was a six-month-old baby, who was now brought to the Trepids’ room by their assistant, Morgan, a frail elderly woman.
  4. reluctantly
    with a certain degree of unwillingness
    “I don’t know,” Mrs. Trepid said, opening the door. “Here, let me see her a minute.”
    “Oh,” Morgan said, reluctantly relinquishing the baby.
  5. relinquish
    release, as from one's grip
    “I don’t know,” Mrs. Trepid said, opening the door. “Here, let me see her a minute.”
    “Oh,” Morgan said, reluctantly relinquishing the baby.
  6. buggy
    a small lightweight carriage
    As Morgan readied the buggy in the front yard, she winked at the baby. “Okey-dokey, baby, Chief Gopher is going to take you for a walky.”
  7. musty
    covered with or smelling of mold
    Once inside, he flopped into an overstuffed, musty chair and said, “Ah, peace.”
  8. listless
    marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm
    The boy was skinny and quiet, and one summer’s night, Mr. Trepid discovered him lying listless and feverish in his bed.
  9. sophisticated
    complex or intricate
    “What?” Florida said. “You mean you buried a bunch of money in the ground and just put a little old stone on the top of it?”
    “Well,” Tiller said. “It’s a little more sophisticated than that.”
  10. bough
    any of the larger branches of a tree
    There was the picnic tree, with huge overhanging boughs, underneath which they’d often had picnics with their children.
  11. privileged
    blessed with special advantages
    She felt privileged now, knowing the way to her husband’s understone fund, and she leaped over a log.
  12. sliver
    a small thin sharp bit of wood, glass, or metal
    Tiller sat down on the porch steps, took out his whittling knife and a piece of wood from his pocket, and shaved slivers from the bark.
  13. nimble
    moving quickly and lightly
    As her knife moved nimbly over the wood, shavings drifted down the steps, mixing in with Tiller’s wood chips.
  14. muffled
    being or made softer or less loud or clear
    From the distance came a muffled call.
  15. flail
    thrash about
    They found Florida flailing in a patch of briars on the far side of the stream.
  16. codger
    an eccentric elderly man
    “But it was nice of you to think of us,” Sairy said. “We aren’t used to anybody worrying about what happens to us old codgers.”
  17. sprawling
    spreading out in different directions
    While the others did their errands, Sairy slipped around the back of the courthouse and down the alley, which was bordered on one side by railroad tracks and on the other side by a sprawling field dotted with junk cars and shacks.
  18. rafter
    one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
    She glanced around the barn and up at the old stained rafters, feeling a little sad that this was the end of it and the old man didn’t even know it.
  19. demented
    affected with madness or insanity
    When the Cranbeps returned Florida and Dallas to the Boxton Creek Home, Mrs. Cranbep emptied a bag of bald dolls onto the Trepids’ desk. “These twins are demented” Mrs. Cranbep said.
  20. inconclusive
    not putting an end to doubt or question
    When Tiller returned, alone, to the doctor’s office the following week, the doctor apologized. “The tests were inconclusive,” he said. “We’ll need to do more tests.”
  21. scornful
    expressing extreme contempt
    “No we won’t,” Tiller said. “It was Popsicles. Orange Popsicles. She must be allergic to them.”
    The doctor was scornful.
  22. fret
    worry unnecessarily or excessively
    Beside him, Sairy was also still awake, and she, too, was fretting over her upcoming trip.
  23. mortified
    made to feel uncomfortable because of shame or wounded pride
    She closed the door on him and stood there, angry at first, and then mortified at what she had done. He had looked so stunned, standing there.
  24. agitated
    troubled emotionally and usually deeply
    By spring, Sairy had grown increasingly agitated by the loud noises of the city, with the screeching trucks and blaring horns and pounding jackhammers.
  25. engaging
    attracting or delighting
    She looked closely at Tiller’s smooth skin, that tall, straight back, that engaging grin.
  26. eerie
    suggestive of the supernatural; mysterious
    Ruby Holler at night can be an eerie, dark place, full of shadows and silence, but both the shadows and the silence are deceptive.
  27. deceptive
    deliberately designed to mislead
    Ruby Holler at night can be an eerie, dark place, full of shadows and silence, but both the shadows and the silence are deceptive.
  28. cunning
    showing inventiveness and skill
    Out of the shadows dash creatures of all shapes and sizes: swift, diving bats and scurrying raccoons, fluttery moths and cunning bobcats.
  29. thicket
    a dense growth of bushes
    Paths, which in daylight seem clearly trodden ways, twist and turn in the night, looping back on themselves and vanishing into dense thickets.
  30. loom
    hang over, as of something threatening, dark, or menacing
    Out of nowhere, boulders loom, and fallen trees barricade the way.
  31. thrash
    move or stir about violently
    Florida thrashed and kicked and tugged her way out of the thicket.
  32. bulge
    swell or protrude outwards
    She hated thinking about the scary toothless lunatic’s house, but once it was in her mind, it raced around in there, bashing up against every little bulging gray cell.
  33. fidgety
    nervous and unable to relax
    When the scary toothless man, Mr. Dreep, and his thin, fidgety wife first came to the Home, Dallas and Florida had instantly feared the man and tried their best to dissuade the couple from any interest in them.
  34. dissuade
    turn away from by persuasion
    When the scary toothless man, Mr. Dreep, and his thin, fidgety wife first came to the Home, Dallas and Florida had instantly feared the man and tried their best to dissuade the couple from any interest in them.
  35. rummage
    search haphazardly
    Dallas rummaged through his backpack.
Created on Mon Apr 15 21:33:50 EDT 2019 (updated Thu Jul 11 10:52:51 EDT 2019)

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