The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez: Chapters 11–14

by Adrianna Cuevas
Twelve-year-old Nestor Lopez has a secret: he can communicate with animals. When the animals in his town begin mysteriously disappearing, Nestor must use his special abilities to investigate.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–10, Chapters 11–14, Chapters 15–26
20 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. maniacal
    wildly disordered
    Some let out a maniacal cackle every time you get a multiplication fact wrong.
  2. trounce
    defeat in a competition, race, or conflict
    Trouncing the Burleson team feels good—especially considering how sour their faces were and how hard Brandon worked against us.
  3. detectable
    capable of being discovered
    We head to Maria Carmen's house, which takes about two seconds since New Haven is small enough to be undetectable on any map.
  4. mantel
    a shelf that projects from the wall above a fireplace
    Perched on the mantel is a US flag, wrapped in the shape of a triangle, only the blue field with white stars showing.
  5. churn
    be agitated
    A hard lump rises in my throat, and my stomach churns.
  6. heave
    rise and move up and down, as in waves
    His chest heaves, and he starts to laugh. The unnerving sound spreads through the evening air.
  7. unnerve
    disturb the composure of
    His chest heaves, and he starts to laugh. The unnerving sound spreads through the evening air.
  8. daredevil
    recklessly daring
    A bully chased off by a lunatic squirrel and a daredevil raven.
  9. collage
    any collection of diverse things
    It's surrounded by the background on Mom’s computer—a collage of pictures I've drawn.
  10. lackluster
    not having brilliance or vitality
    "Oh, it's good. It's all good. Nothing special," I offer with a lackluster smile.
  11. gorge
    overeat or eat immodestly
    We gorged ourselves on cheap nachos and Coke as Dad pointed out which of his commanding officers had a worse bowling score than he did (all of them).
  12. camaraderie
    the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
    I think he forgets that the instant camaraderie in the military doesn’t exactly happen in middle school.
  13. rant
    talk at length in a noisy, excited, or angry manner
    “Some random woman came up to me in the grocery store yesterday, ranting about how you needed to stay away from her chickens. She said she saw you running around between her yard and the woods. I had no idea what she was talking about."
  14. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    "Niño," Abuela chides me, playfully smacking me on the back of the head.
  15. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    I trudge down the stairs, back into the kitchen.
  16. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    There's no way I can say what went on without revealing my big secret. "I, uh, think fighting off impending doom beats winning a Texas regional quiz competition."
  17. retort
    answer back
    "Think of not getting ripped to shreds by a wolverine," Maria Carmen retorts.
  18. psychotic
    characteristic of or suffering from a severe mental disorder
    "There's a chance we ticked off a psychotic witch who can slash our throats as a wolverine and wring us out like a meat towel as a snake."
  19. interrogate
    pose a series of questions to
    “I think we should go to Miss Humala’s classroom and do some investigating," I tell them. I don't tell them that I actually plan to interrogate Milla, the class chinchilla.
  20. pelt
    the dressed hairy coat of a mammal
    I open a cabinet, and a waterfall of animal pelts tumbles out.
Created on Mon Feb 22 20:36:17 EST 2021 (updated Tue Mar 02 08:59:40 EST 2021)

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