Hattie Big Sky: Chapters 17–23

by Kirby Larson
Following the death of her uncle, sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks travels to Montana to prove she can take care of her inherited land while dealing with anti-German sentiment during World War I.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–6, Chapters 7–11, Chapters 12–16, Chapters 17–23
40 words 9 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. allotment
    a share set aside for a specific purpose
    “These pledges don’t total up to our allotment yet.”
  2. folderol
    nonsense or foolishness
    Let them be children, excited by the prospects of music, marching, and folderol.
  3. apprise
    inform somebody of something
    Though I didn’t own a thermometer, Karl had kept me apprised of the temperature.
  4. bunting
    a loosely woven fabric used for flags, etc.
    They marched on, followed by the Fort Peck Livery and Sale Barn wagon, all decked out in red, white, and blue bunting.
  5. tableau
    any dramatic scene
    Behind the riders, the Methodist church staged a patriotic tableau, and then the children of the Wolf Creek School—minus their star pupil, Chase—marched, adorned with blue sashes and singing “Over There.”
  6. wrangle
    an angry dispute
    A wrangle of male voices caught my attention.
  7. verve
    an energetic style
    Don’t think, because we have no fancy bandstands or city parks, that we can’t celebrate Independence Day with as much verve as you do in the big city.
  8. commiserate
    feel or express sympathy or compassion
    Folks from all around will gather on the banks of Wolf Creek to picnic, play baseball, and commiserate about the dreadfully dry weather.
  9. dejected
    affected or marked by low spirits
    “You’re out!” called Reverend Tweed.
    Chase dropped his bat dejectedly.
  10. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    The sound of riders nudged me out of my reverie.
  11. levity
    a manner lacking seriousness
    I had to laugh. “Stop the presses!”
    “Hattie.” He paused for a moment. “We got off on the wrong foot somehow.”
    “Wrong foot?” The levity was short-lived.
  12. finagle
    achieve something by means of trickery or devious methods
    Mother finagled the governor to appoint me to the Council of Defense. The draft board said that could be my service.
  13. balk
    refuse to proceed or comply
    The weather may have been good for the grain, but it did nothing for anyone’s temper. Even my solid Plug balked when I tried to hitch him up to help at the Robbinses’.
  14. cipher
    make a mathematical calculation or computation
    During all my months of ciphering, I had counted on selling my grain to the miller at grain prices, not to the odd farmer as cattle feed.
  15. ravaged
    having been robbed and destroyed by force and violence
    Karl drove the hay wagon, pulled stoically by Joey, Star, Sage, and Plug, through the ravaged fields. One small section of wheat, on a little dogleg of my land, had escaped the storm.
  16. acuity
    a quick and penetrating intelligence
    My time on the prairie has shown me that age has very little to do with one’s mental acuity or physical ability.
  17. tutelage
    teaching pupils individually
    I myself have been under the able tutelage of a boy just turned nine; without Chase’s wisdom, I might not have made it through even my first day as a honyocker.
  18. sentry
    a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
    Was detailed to guard the target range. That is the target that the aeroplanes practice shooting at. One of the English chaps asked me if I had stood sentry before.
  19. butte
    a hill that rises abruptly from the surrounding region
    The eagle screamed to announce his success, then flew toward a distant butte.
  20. inordinate
    beyond normal limits
    After he swung down off Ash, he seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time brushing prairie dust from his pants.
  21. curt
    brief and to the point
    A curt nod was all I would give him.
  22. precedence
    status established in order of importance or urgency
    I am going to rule that the head-of-household status takes precedence over the age requirement.
  23. fortuitous
    lucky; occurring by happy chance
    And, as Miss Brooks has herself explained, her sixteen years are the equivalent of twenty-one years for other girls raised under more fortuitous circumstances.
  24. superficial
    of little substance or significance
    The Spanish influenza epidemic has become more than a news item for us here. I will confess that until now, though I have prayed for the many stricken by this plague, the situation only touched me in a superficial way.
  25. furrow
    a long shallow trench in the ground
    It seems the misfortune of one can plow a deeper furrow in the heart than the misfortune of millions.
  26. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
    Mattie and Fern were ashen heaps, feverish on the floor.
  27. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    Only three small bites of food passed between her lips before she fell into a fitful sleep.
  28. elation
    a feeling of joy and pride
    This time, Fern ate ten bites of toast and milk.
    “Good girl!” Funny how such a small thing can cause complete elation.
  29. bout
    a period of illness
    Not even the wealth of the Martins could save them from grief: the youngest boy, Lon, survived his bout, as did Sarah, but their mother, who was a faithful nurse to both, did not.
  30. acrimonious
    marked by strong resentment or cynicism
    My eyes crossed from picking out stitches when I tried to pair up two acrimonious fabrics.
  31. beholden
    under a moral obligation to someone
    Doing what I needed to do to prove up my claim had left me more beholden to the folks who meant something to me—Karl and Wayne Robbins and Mr. Nefzger—than I’d ever been to all those relatives I’d lived with.
  32. jounce
    move up and down repeatedly
    Over the coulee burst Rooster Jim, jouncing astride his new Indian motorcycle.
  33. armistice
    a state of peace agreed to between opponents
    I want to spread the good news about the armistice before it gets dark.
  34. provision
    a stipulated condition
    “There’s no such provision. The three-year deadline is firm.”
  35. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    He smiled ruefully. “She got her wish, didn’t she? The war ended before I could fight.”
  36. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    She pulled me into a hug as I stepped over the threshold and held me there extra long.
  37. persnickety
    characterized by excessive attention to trivial details
    Wayne was a whiz with persnickety engines.
  38. proffer
    present for acceptance or rejection
    Tentatively, he took the proffered package.
  39. scrutiny
    the act of examining something closely, as for mistakes
    She studied each and every inch of it. I didn’t mind the scrutiny; this was my best effort.
  40. aloof
    distant, cold, or detached in manner
    It won't take you long, standing there, to understand what I mean about that sky, the endless and aloof Montana sky.
Created on Tue Apr 12 12:30:28 EDT 2022 (updated Mon Apr 18 09:52:56 EDT 2022)

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