On the Far Side of the Mountain: A Storm Breaks–A Trade Comes My Way

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. construct
    make by combining materials and parts
    I lean back in the lounging chair I constructed from bent saplings held together with rope made from the inner bark of the basswood tree, and enjoy the primitive forest.
  2. peregrine
    a powerful falcon formerly used in falconry
    As a hot dry wind clears the air, I can see Frightful, my peregrine falcon, sitting in front of the six-foot-in-diameter hemlock tree that I hollowed out for a home.
  3. tawny
    having the color of tanned leather
    Her tawny breast is decorated with black marks; her back is gray blue; her head black.
  4. alight
    settle or come to rest
    Within a few feet of my outstretched hand, she braked and alighted on my glove as softly as the fluff from a dandelion seed.
  5. demure
    shy or modest, often in a playful or provocative way
    Her curved, flesh-ripping beak looks sweet and demure when you see her head on.
  6. endangered
    in imminent threat of extinction
    “Keeping an endangered species carries a fine and a year’s imprisonment.”
  7. perpetuation
    the act of prolonging or causing to exist indefinitely
    Set free it is worthless as far as the perpetuation of the species is concerned.
  8. breed
    have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms)
    Sir, you say you can’t let her go because she won’t breed.
  9. compassion
    the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others
    Pity didn’t work. Politeness didn’t work. Reason and philosophy failed. I try compassion.
  10. harass
    annoy continually or chronically
    “You are harassing and talking back to an officer of the law,” he shouts.
  11. default
    an option that is selected automatically
    The way I look at it, she’s here by default.
  12. reap
    gather, as of natural products
    Dad was going to plow the abandoned fields, sow seeds, and reap the grain.
  13. pang
    a sudden sharp feeling
    As I watched them go, I felt a pang of sorrow.
  14. stupendous
    so great in size, force, or extent as to elicit awe
    “This is stupendous,” I said.
  15. leisurely
    not hurried or forced
    Alice and I sat on the bank leisurely watching as the contraption went up and down, up and down, turning acorns into flour.
  16. wigwam
    a Native American lodge frequently having an oval shape
    We’ll bend saplings from one side to the other to form a dome—a wigwam—and we’ll cover it with bark, just like they did.
  17. sarcastic
    expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds
    “Anything else?” I asked sarcastically.
  18. tantalizing
    arousing desire or expectation for something unattainable
    That’s Alice—tantalizing—“thinking waterfalls.”
  19. cataract
    a large waterfall; violent rush of water over a precipice
    Ever since she set foot in the Catskills, she has talked about, and gone out of her way to find, cascades, cataracts, waterfalls, rills, riffles and niagaras.
  20. sluice
    conduit that carries a rapid flow of water
    I leave the note on the path to her tree house, check the door on the sluice that carries the water to the waterwheel to make sure it’s tightly closed, and depart.
  21. conspicuous
    obvious to the eye or mind
    Walking here on the streets, I feel conspicuous in my mountain clothes, but I guess I’m not.
  22. reluctant
    not eager
    I smile at the thought of little Frightfuls and lift my reluctant feet.
  23. wade
    walk through relatively shallow water
    I wade over to it and lie down in its cool greenery.
  24. scamper
    run or move about quickly or lightly
    A squirrel family scampers over the leaves, rattling them noisily, which is one of the ways squirrels communicate with each other.
  25. frenzied
    excessively agitated
    The birdcalls grow more frenzied as twilight approaches.
  26. foliage
    the collective amount of leaves of one or more plants
    Discouraged, I lie down on the leafy ground and look up through the foliage at the silent moon.
  27. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    I blow out my deer-fat candle and run outside to meet this old friend who is trudging up the trail.
  28. chaise longue
    a long chair for reclining
    “You know those two chairs I put together when you were making your chaise longue?”
  29. rustic
    characteristic of the fields or country
    The bark is kept on to give them that rustic look.
  30. cringe
    draw back, as with fear, pain, or embarrassment
    I cringe at the thought of shopping, then remember Alice likes stores.
  31. chortle
    laugh quietly or with restraint
    In minutes I hear the water gushing down the sluiceway, bubbling and chortling along until it spills out the end and strikes the paddles of the wheel just forward of its highest point.
  32. irrigation
    the act of supplying dry land with water by artificial means
    Last autumn when the waterwheel was still under construction, Alice came to my tree while I was trying to figure out where to dig an irrigation ditch to carry the water from the millpond to the squash and groundnuts in the rocky meadow.
  33. composure
    steadiness of mind under stress
    I almost break down but regain my composure and go on.
  34. thrive
    grow vigorously
    “She’s a bird. She’ll eat and thrive.”
  35. facetious
    cleverly amusing in tone
    He has no heart for facetiousness.
Created on Mon Jul 27 20:27:19 EDT 2015 (updated Tue Sep 11 10:28:04 EDT 2018)

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