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The Strangers: Chapters 11–20

In this action-packed mystery, Chess, Natalie, and Finn Greystone attempt to find their missing mother and three kidnapped children.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–20, Chapters 21–33, Chapters 34–44, Chapter 45–Epilogue
30 words 41 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. frilly
    having decorative ruffles or similar ornamentation
    She also had on high heels, dramatically flared black pants, and a frilly blouse with swoopy sleeves.
  2. audible
    heard or perceptible by the ear
    Emma found herself deeply curious about what Natalie would do next. Would she:
    a) Grunt again, and maybe even make it audible this time?
    b) Keep typing on her own cell phone and totally ignore her mom?
  3. scornful
    expressing extreme contempt
    And Natalie and three other Lip Gloss Girls had walked over to him, and one of them had said, “You know, you’re kind of cute.”
    And then Natalie had added in a scornful voice, “For a fifth grader, anyway.”
  4. conceited
    having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
    Would “Thanks!” have sounded conceited? Would “You’re really pretty, too” have sounded like he was a jerk?
  5. sluggish
    lacking energy, quickness, or alertness
    He was a little afraid Finn would suggest, Let’s race like we always do! And then probably Natalie would laugh at the way Chess ran. But even Finn seemed weighted down, his steps sluggish.
  6. taunt
    harass with persistent criticism or carping
    “Mom doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Emma said.
    “Are you sure?” Natalie asked, and it was almost like she was taunting Emma and apologizing, all at once.
  7. encrypt
    convert ordinary language into code
    Natalie squinted at the texting symbol at the top.
    “Your mom uses an encrypted texting service?” Natalie said.
  8. obstinacy
    resolute adherence to your own ideas or desires
    “I’m going to go find it,” Finn announced, and Chess knew without looking that Finn would have his lip stuck out and his face set, a vision of obstinacy.
  9. resolve
    the trait of being firm in purpose or belief
    But then Chess did glance down at his brother, thinking it would help his own resolve.
  10. forlorn
    marked by or showing hopelessness
    His whole face trembled.
    Finn looked like he wanted to act stubborn, but he’d gotten stuck on forlorn.
  11. spare
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    Of course Mom’s coming back. That will happen regardless. Whether we find her spare computer or not. Whether we do anything or not.
  12. indignantly
    in a manner showing anger at something unjust or wrong
    She remembered Finn’s friend Tyrell asking once, “Isn’t this your family room? Where’s the TV?”
    And Finn had said indignantly, “It’s our rec room. Don’t you think we’d wreck a TV if it was down here?”
  13. recreation
    an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates
    That was when Mom explained that, really, rec room stood for “recreation room,” and that a TV would distract her when she was working in the Boring Room, Mom’s little closed-off office at the far side of the basement.
  14. notch
    a small cut
    She felt around the couch’s middle leg. From the front, that leg looked like a solid block of wood. But it had a notch carved into the back of it. Emma pulled a little metal key out of the notch.
  15. theorem
    an idea accepted as a demonstrable truth
    Just that thought made Emma want to start reciting reliable things to herself again: Fibonacci numbers. Multiplication tables. The Pythagorean theorem.
  16. pleat
    a fold in a garment or piece of fabric
    She pulled out the drawer, and the paper got stuck, smashed into accordion-style pleats. Emma gently eased the paper out, flipped it over, and smoothed it out.
  17. deduction
    something that is inferred
    It wasn’t exactly foolproof logic, but Emma was pretty sure she could make a deduction: Mom wasn’t on a business trip at all.
  18. evident
    clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
    Evidently she’d taken the key from Chess while he wasn’t paying attention. Evidently now she was slipping the key back into his hand.
    Chess felt like there could be all sorts of things happening that he might have missed.
  19. shroud
    cover as if with a burial garment
    But now they looked up at him, their faces shrouded in shadows, and he could tell that tonight neither of them found anything amusing.
  20. busybody
    a person who meddles in the affairs of others
    “Okay,” Natalie agreed. “On the side, Mom’s a private investigator. That’s what she calls it. I call it a professional snoop. My grandmother called it being a busybody. Mom spies on men who are—” She glanced at Finn
  21. surly
    unfriendly and inclined toward anger or irritation
    And she never used such a surly tone with clients. She was always nice to them.
  22. dejected
    affected or marked by low spirits
    “Then I can’t see anything,” Finn said dejectedly. His shoulders slumped, and he looked like he might start crying again.
  23. patronizing
    characteristic of those who treat others with arrogance
    He’s eight, not three! Chess wanted to yell at her. Stop being so...so…
    Patronizing” was the word he was looking for.
  24. maneuver
    direct the course of or determine the direction of traveling
    He shut down the laptop from the Boring Room and maneuvered Finn between him and Emma.
  25. strew
    spread by scattering
    Though, actually, the image of all three kids was largely hidden, because they had so many files and games and shortcut links strewn about the desktop. It would be hard to find anything in that mess.
  26. gibberish
    unintelligible talking
    Eagerly Chess moved on to the next paragraph. But it was all gibberish.
    He raked his finger down the touchpad, scrolling through the rest of the letter—page after page of more gibberish.
  27. cipher
    a secret method of writing
    “Is it...code?” Emma finally asked. “Or a cipher? I forget which is which—one is where each individual letter or number or symbol stands for a different letter, and one is where the whole word is replaced by a different word, which you can only figure out if you have the key to the code. Or the cipher. Whichever.”
  28. metamorphosis
    a complete change of physical form or substance
    “She likes butterflies because...because...what’s the reason, Emma?”
    “Rebirth,” Emma said absently. She didn’t take her eyes off her own computer screen. “Metamorphosis. Second chances.”
  29. intricate
    having many complexly arranged elements; elaborate
    The dots on the butterflies’ wings weren’t just in different places on each logo. They also contained patterns of their own, intricately drawn lines and angles.
  30. array
    an impressive display or assortment
    She looked at the array of butterflies Finn had lined up on his computer screen.
Created on Wed Feb 05 10:30:18 EST 2020 (updated Wed Feb 19 13:42:10 EST 2020)

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