Rez Dogs: Chapters 6–10

by Joseph Bruchac
In this novel in verse, a girl befriends a stray dog while quarantining with her grandparents on a Wabanaki reservation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15
20 words 68 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. husky
    a breed of heavy-coated Arctic sled dog
    His chest was broad,
    his legs as strong
    as those of a husky,
    the sort of dog
    she’d seen pulling sleds
  2. crisis
    an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty
    She knew,
    as did everyone else
    on the rez,
    that Indians were
    pretty much the last people
    anyone cared about
    during this crisis.
  3. relief
    assistance in time of difficulty
    She’d helped her grandparents
    make a donation
    to a Navajo nation
    relief fund with her phone.
  4. famine
    a severe shortage of food resulting in starvation and death
    in the nineteenth century
    when there was
    that potato famine
    over in Ireland,
    some of our Indian people
    pooled money together
    and sent it to help them.
  5. fauna
    all the animal life in a particular region or period
    In her biology class
    they’d talked about
    the megafauna
    of the Pleistocene Era
    here in North America.
  6. fern
    a flowerless, seedless plant with fronds that uncurl upward
    The patterns
    of ferns and flowers
    within the piece
    she’d been working on
    were really nice.
  7. reception
    quality or fidelity of a broadcast
    But she also knew
    that her grandmother
    enjoyed the movies
    they watched together—
    at least when
    they could get reception.
  8. access
    the right to make use of or take advantage of something
    Even with the beadwork
    and doing as much
    of her homework
    as she could each day
    with their limited
    Internet access,
    she still felt like
    she never had enough to do.
  9. officious
    intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
    An officious look
    was on her face,
    a clipboard
    in one hand
    and a face mask
    in the other.
  10. stern
    serious and harsh in manner or behavior
    “I need to speak
    to your grandparents,”
    she said, not shouting now
    but more controlled,
    in a very stern voice.
  11. plume
    anything that resembles a feather in shape or lightness
    The woman did not
    look very happy,
    but she turned her car
    back on, revved the engine,
    and then, sending
    a plume of gravel
    into the air,
    she drove away.
  12. ail
    cause physical suffering to and make sick or indisposed
    “Have some of this, granddaughter.
    It’s good for what ails you.”
  13. manure
    any animal or plant material used to fertilize land
    You know, nosis, grandchild,
    early spring snow like this,
    we call white manure.
    Fertilizes the ground
    where it falls.
  14. mulch
    small pieces of organic material spread on soil
    Malian watched
    the cold raindrops
    splashing down
    on the black plastic
    her grandparents used
    to cover the mulch
    on top of the garden,
    the heat breaking it down
    into good dark earth.
  15. blight
    any plant disease resulting in withering without rotting
    Reason that all
    their potatoes died
    from the blight
    was that they all
    just grew one variety.
  16. exception
    an instance that does not conform to a rule
    It was tough here
    on the rez, getting
    much of anything,
    and the Internet
    was no exception.
  17. shrivel
    wither, as with a loss of moisture
    But then, wouldn’t you know,
    an early frost came
    and everything
    all shriveled up and died.
  18. device
    an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose
    “I guess,” Grampa Roy said,
    “that device of yours
    likes seeing a rainbow, too.”
  19. ethnology
    branch of anthropology dealing with divisions of humankind
    “That’s what one of them
    ethnologists decided.”
  20. souvenir
    a reminder of past events
    Them nuns left me
    some souvenirs.
    Every knuckle on
    both my hands
    got broken one time
    or another
    from being hit
    with that heavy ruler
Created on Tue Dec 21 08:22:31 EST 2021 (updated Mon Dec 27 08:51:37 EST 2021)

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