The End of the Wild: Chapters 12–19

by Nicole Helget
Eleven-year-old Fern tries to prevent powerful entities from breaking up her family and polluting her small Michigan town.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–11, Chapters 12–19, Chapters 20–25
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. kiosk
    small area set off by walls for special use
    I go over to a kiosk that says PERSONNEL ONLY PAST THIS POINT.
  2. personnel
    group of people willing to obey orders
    I go over to a kiosk that says PERSONNEL ONLY PAST THIS POINT.
  3. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Some of the trucks we’ve been seeing on our road are lined up in one area. Some are driving in and out of the work site over makeshift roads.
  4. funk
    a state of nervous depression
    I go on walking in a slumpy funk until I reach Horace Millner’s property.
  5. warp
    bend or twist out of shape
    The driver of the truck rattles his door handle and pushes on the door. It’s warped and won’t open.
  6. thorough
    performed comprehensively and completely
    The EMTs separate Mikko, Alexi, and me and give us each a thorough examination.
  7. maroon
    a dark purplish-red to dark brownish-red color
    The blood is already turning from crimson to a deep maroon.
  8. commotion
    a disorderly outburst or tumult
    With all the cars and commotion, I didn’t notice him pulling up.
  9. creditor
    a person to whom money is owed by a debtor
    On top of all the unpaid bills and threats from creditors and Children’s Protective Services material lie his hiring papers.
  10. extraction
    taking out something
    The top one reads, WELCOME TO KLOCHE INDUSTRIES, THE WORLD LEADER IN NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION!
  11. wispy
    thin and weak
    Long, dark, wispy clouds blow across a half-moon, silver and gray.
  12. bound
    move forward by leaping
    When I get to school the next morning, I drop the boys off at their classrooms, give Alexi’s toad teacher the evil eye as I tell her why his arm is in a sling, and then bound up the stairs to my classroom.
  13. whim
    a sudden desire
    It seems like all the kids I know are at the mercy of the whims of grown-ups.
  14. sneer
    smile contemptuously
    Margot sneers. “Why don’t you just tell everyone, Mom? Tell everyone how you get rid of people who don’t agree with you.”
  15. assessment
    the act of judging a person or situation or event
    “Class,” she announces, “this project-based assessment bears considerable significance.”
  16. podium
    a platform raised above the surrounding level
    She stands at the front of the room, behind the podium.
  17. implore
    beg or request earnestly and urgently
    “And due to recent events, I must now implore you to look upon this assignment as your chief priority, as its outcome will be the sole factor in your final evaluation.”
  18. administer
    supervise or be in charge of
    But you can blame that on Mr. Flores, who for some reason never administered even one test for proper assessment.
  19. concession
    a point that is yielded
    “As a concession, I have decided to give you the entire period to work on your projects,” she says.
  20. bog
    wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation
    “Thinking they can come in here and take my land for a bog of poison.”
  21. drafty
    not airtight; exposed to currents of air
    For a few days our house is chilly, and not only because the windows and doors are drafty and the wind’s now coming in from the frozen north.
  22. edible
    suitable for use as food
    When he comes home from work and sees a bunch of photographs and descriptions of the edible plants in Millner’s woods spread out on the table, he doesn’t ask me how my project is going.
  23. wayward
    difficult to manage or keep in order
    Toivo tucks a wayward corner of his button-up—a new work shirt that has KLOCHE’S embroidered on it—into his pants.
  24. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    Toivo tucks a wayward corner of his button-up—a new work shirt that has KLOCHE’S embroidered on it—into his pants.
  25. benchmark
    a standard by which something can be measured or judged
    Do you think you can ensure that the children make it to school on time every day and that their homework is done toward grade-appropriate benchmarks?
  26. self-sufficient
    able to provide for your own needs without help from others
    I also have in my favor that I have taught her to be self-sufficient about some things, which is not a thing they teach in school and lots of parents don’t even know themselves anymore.
  27. rummage
    search haphazardly
    Miss Tassel rummages around in her purse.
  28. mettle
    the courage to carry on
    But I think—and I think she would agree with me on this—that that gray hair is mettle. She and I have had to scrounge and scrap to feed this family, and it takes courage to do that.
  29. scrounge
    collect or look around for
    She and I have had to scrounge and scrap to feed this family, and it takes courage to do that.
  30. distinctive
    of a feature that helps to identify a person or thing
    At first I think it’s a fracking truck, but as the engine gets louder, I recognize the distinctive chugging of Grandpa’s big diesel.
  31. jostle
    make one's way by pushing or shoving
    Like a swarm of bandits, Millner’s dogs jostle around our house, biting at one another.
  32. poised
    marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
    The dogs roar in return, shouting woof, woof with their long snouts poised like megaphones.
  33. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    I don’t want him in the house, but I don’t want him riling up the dog pack, either.
  34. abide
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    “My father was a general in the army, sir. He couldn’t abide a weak handshake.”
  35. splay
    widen or spread apart
    Miss Tassel’s got her hands raised, fingers splayed. “That is quite enough. Stand down, and I am not going to ask you twice!”
Created on Thu Oct 13 20:40:49 EDT 2022 (updated Tue Sep 12 17:00:06 EDT 2023)

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