On the Far Side of the Mountain: The Dawn Breaks over Me–A Bird Talks to Me

by Jean Craighead George
In this sequel to My Side of the Mountain, Sam Gribley's sister Alice joins her brother in the Catskill Mountains. But when Alice disappears and Sam's beloved falcon is taken away, he must fight to get them back.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: A Storm Breaks–A Trade Comes My Way, I Go Backwards in Order to Go Forwards–Zella Makes Sense, I Learn to Think Like a Pig–I Get News of Alice, The Dawn Breaks over Me–A Bird Talks to Me

Here are links to our lists for the My Side of the Mountain trilogy by Jean Craighead George: My Side of the Mountain, On the Far Side of the Mountain, Frightful's Mountain

And here is a link to Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. fledgling
    young bird that has just become capable of flying
    My friend, Steve, at the peregrine mew, puts the fledglings out early in the morning so they’ll have all day to look around and learn the environment before they fly off.
  2. forage
    collect or look around for, as food
    Alice is here, but she’s also not here. She must be out foraging.
  3. gorge
    a deep ravine, usually with a river running through it
    From here I can see the creek, the gorge, and a pine plantation.
  4. inspect
    examine carefully for accuracy
    She lifts her head to inspect a scent on the wind.
  5. habitat
    the type of environment in which an organism normally lives
    With the cutting and burning of the forests for farming, its habitat was eliminated.
  6. grouse
    popular game bird having a plump body and feathered legs
    Without the forest foods of ruffed grouse, turkeys, raccoons, and wood rats, the eastern coyote almost died out.
  7. tethered
    confined or restricted with or as if with a rope or chain
    All the perch holes are circled with claw marks. A tethered raptor will make marks like these.
  8. furrow
    a slight depression in the smoothness of a surface
    The stone is dressed with circular furrows, a design that hasn’t been used for more than a hundred years.
  9. designate
    assign a name or title to
    The conservation officer, who is rooming across the street this week—he moves around from town to town—told Eric there was a renewed interest in hawks and falcons since some of them have been designated endangered species.
  10. jowl
    a looseness of the flesh of the lower cheek and jaw
    One of the chefs, a large man with rosy jowls, comes to our table and introduces himself as Mr. Milo, the head chef and owner of the restaurant.
  11. anguish
    extreme distress of body or mind
    In anguish I roll over and bury my face in her rabbit-fur pillow.
  12. aristocracy
    a privileged class holding hereditary titles
    The farmers of the Helderberg Mountains declared they would no longer pay rent to the Van Rensselaers and honor leases which bound their land forever and forever, for an annual payment, to a landed aristocracy.
  13. swift
    moving very fast
    I start off in that direction, set a swift pace, and cover the four miles in a little more than an hour.
  14. narrow
    not wide
    The entrance is narrow, the cavern black.
  15. sidle
    move sideways
    When it flares up, I slip between two huge slabs of limestone and sidle down the tight tunnel.
  16. dwindle
    become smaller or lose substance
    The tunnel I’m in dwindles to two feet, and I turn back.
  17. intrigue
    cause to be interested or curious
    I ease myself along, intrigued by the smooth, waterworn walls.
  18. spelunker
    a person who explores caves
    Not many people know about it now. Just local kids and a few spelunkers.
  19. endorse
    give support or one's approval to
    Birds of prey are protected by three different laws, one of which is a multinational treaty endorsed by 103 members.
  20. incriminate
    suggest that someone is guilty
    “The man’s not going to talk, Sam,” Officer Conklin says. “He’ll incriminate himself.”
  21. docile
    easily handled or managed
    Frightful’s parents were docile compared to these birds, and they were fierce enough.
  22. scimitar
    a curved saber used in Eastern countries
    The gleaming scimitars that are her talons slice the air just above Alice’s head.
  23. dense
    having high compaction or concentration
    The spruce tree is densely limbed and needled, but what Alice doesn’t know is that a goshawk can maneuver a maze.
  24. hurtle
    make a thrusting forward movement
    The frantic hawk speeds upward and, catching a downdraft, hurtles herself at Alice again.
  25. brandish
    move or swing back and forth
    She brandishes a spruce branch to show me how she fends the bird off.
  26. bedevil
    treat cruelly
    To them, any bird of prey must be harassed, but goshawks must be unmercifully bedeviled.
  27. stratosphere
    atmospheric layer between the troposphere and the mesosphere
    The tercel ignores them and climbs, it seems to me, into the very stratosphere.
  28. thrust
    make a forceful forward movement
    Her beak is open, her tongue thrust out.
  29. clench
    squeeze together tightly
    The fierce nestling clenches her talons on air.
  30. recover
    get over an illness or shock
    Wrapping her carefully in my T-shirt so she can’t see, thrash, and hurt herself, I place her far back under the overhang where she can recover from the scare of being handled by people.
  31. ravenous
    extremely hungry
    She eats ravenously, and sadly I think of Frightful when she was this age.
  32. tarry
    leave slowly and hesitantly
    She tarries a moment longer, then peels off, and speeding like a falling star, shoots off into a cloud and is gone.
  33. placard
    a sign posted in a public place
    I swallow hard as I recall the placard on the Monroe Farm.
  34. wallow
    a puddle where animals go to roll around
    I see my wilderness home muddy with wallows and stippled with pig bristles.
  35. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    Gingerly I climb the tree, trying not to jar the little bird too much.
Created on Tue Jul 21 20:47:55 EDT 2015 (updated Tue Sep 11 10:20:36 EDT 2018)

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