Ms. Bixby's Last Day: List 2

by John David Anderson
Sixth-graders Topher Renn, Brand Walker, and Steve Sakata of Fox Ridge Elementary School learn that their favorite teacher must take a leave of absence because of her health, so they make arrangements to give her the perfect last day that she had described during a writing lesson.

This list covers pages 67–151 of the 2017 Walden Pond Press edition.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4
40 words 28 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sappy
    very sentimental or emotional
    We acted out movies without cameras, mostly jumping straight to the fight scenes and skipping over the sappy parts.
  2. allocate
    distribute according to a plan or set apart for a purpose
    I’m sure they weren’t thrilled with the idea, this kid with the wild, scraggly blond hair and even wilder blue eyes monopolizing my carefully allocated free time, but Topher was polite around my parents and earned “decent enough” grades, so I was allowed to keep him as a friend.
  3. wry
    humorously sarcastic or mocking
    He gives us a wry smile, and I count two silver teeth.
  4. impromptu
    with little or no preparation or forethought
    This was an impromptu meeting, arranged by my father almost immediately after seeing my last report card, most notably the B in language arts.
  5. painstaking
    characterized by extreme care and great effort
    He retrieved the report card from the inside pocket of his suit and set it on the desk between them, then immediately launched into a prepared speech on the topic of “The Recent Decline in Steven’s Evaluated Performance,” complete with a painstakingly accurate account of my elementary career thus far, which had been B-less, though dotted with a few near-miss A minuses.
  6. insatiable
    impossible to fulfill, appease, or gratify
    He is one of the brightest students I’ve ever had the honor to teach. He surprises me every day with how much he knows, and his curiosity is insatiable.
  7. miffed
    aroused to impatience or anger
    “What was that all about?” Topher asks. I can tell he’s miffed, and he’s letting Brand know.
  8. gratis
    costing nothing
    He nodded to himself several times, tapping his fingers on the counter before telling me to just take it. The whole cake. Gratis. No charge.
  9. dwindle
    become smaller or lose substance
    I watch it slowly diminish, dwindle down to a few bills over a couple of weeks, and then I walk to the ATM by the Village Pantry and make a withdrawal and the bread box is suddenly full again, like magic.
  10. placard
    a sign posted in a public place
    A wooden placard dangling by twine from the ceiling says we are in the literature section.
  11. blowhard
    a very boastful and talkative person
    I run a finger along one shelf, leaving my trail in the dust, then pull out a copy of a book by someone named Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Never heard of the guy. Sounds like a blowhard.
  12. gilded
    made from or covered with gold
    The gilded letters on the cover say Idylls of the King.
  13. frumpy
    drab, old-fashioned, and unattractive
    The man who emerges from behind the bookcase looks like Yoda...if Yoda were a nearsighted, five-foot-tall white man in khaki pants and a frumpy gray sweater.
  14. gullet
    the passage between the pharynx and the stomach
    Someone has painstakingly painted the inside of the toilet bowl to look like a great white shark’s gaping mouth. Pretty much just the mouth and that triangle snout, like in the movie poster from Jaws. Rows of jagged teeth, red gullet, deep dark pit leading to who knows where.
  15. precariously
    in a manner affording no ease or reassurance
    I finish and flush and wash my hands, and then I step out to see Steve and Topher huddled over the checkout counter, which is really not much more than another rickety wooden bookshelf with a cash register balanced precariously on top of it.
  16. abide
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    “But after this you need to either buy more books or get out of my shop. Scout can’t abide loiterers.”
  17. scaffold
    a temporary arrangement erected around a building
    He was working along a scaffold three stories up. Something snapped or slipped or just popped loose, and the scaffolding collapsed, folding in on itself.
  18. tirade
    a speech of violent denunciation
    There were surgeries, of course. Procedures. Medications. Tirades. Prayers.
  19. compensation
    the act of making amends for service, loss, or injury
    They covered his medical bills and kicked in a sort of workers’ compensation package that would probably support us for the rest of his life, provided we pinched our pennies.
  20. sinew
    a band of tissue connecting a muscle to its bony attachment
    I fiddle with the zipper on my backpack and think about the wineglass wrapped up in the blanket inside, think about nerves encased in bone, wrapped in muscle and sinew and skin, think about the walls of room 213, layered with watercolor paintings and science reports.
  21. likeness
    picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing
    I watch him sketch out the rough outline of a few bookshelves, followed by a figure huddled between them. The head, the ears, the glasses, the marching wrinkles. It’s a pretty good likeness.
  22. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
    Topher makes the head much too large, caricature style, but he manages to get Mr. Alexander’s mischievous expression right.
  23. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    “Yeah,” Topher says again, studying his sketch intently, shading in a few spots.
  24. unadulterated
    without qualification
    “Inspired by real-life people, perhaps,” Topher says, “but artistically enhanced for pure, unadulterated frawesomeness.”
  25. secrete
    conceal or place out of sight
    Finding it here, secreted away in the back of his sketchbook.
  26. bludgeon
    strike with a club
    He raises his half of the sketchbook above my head like it’s a giant stone slab that he intends to bludgeon me with.
  27. extraneous
    not essential
    It’s a twenty-seven-minute bus ride from Woodfield Shopping Center to the corner of State Street and Third. Twenty-seven minutes, barring extraneous traffic, blown tire, or hostile takeover.
  28. ideal
    conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection
    Just yesterday a postal delivery worker found a dead cat stuffed into a mailbox downtown, presumably not Princess Paw Paw. It doesn’t sound like an ideal place to spend the day, but unfortunately everything we still need is downtown, including Ms. Bixby.
  29. incongruent
    not corresponding in character or kind
    Ms. Bixby is a thirty-five-year-old woman. And our teacher. Topher is twelve. And my best friend. These two things are incongruent.
  30. compatible
    able to exist and perform in harmonious combination
    From my experience, boys are easier to get along with. We have basic needs: potato chips, video games, and movies where national landmarks blow up. That makes us compatible. Compatible means going together without conflict. Strawberries and whipped cream are compatible. Sunshine and swimming pools are compatible.
  31. nettle
    plant having stinging hairs that cause skin irritation
    We grabbed our stuff, cut across several backyards, and walked down to the water’s edge, avoiding the nettles and whacking at the cattails with sticks.
  32. elaborate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    “That’s it? That's your elaborate master plan?”
  33. flank
    be located at the sides of something or somebody
    I shake my head vigorously, but Topher nods and takes a step closer so that he doesn’t have to shout. Brand and I immediately flank him.
  34. embellish
    add details to
    “What are you, ten?”
    “Thirteen,” Topher says, feeling the need to embellish everything.
  35. complement
    make perfect or supply what is wanting
    I’m also not sure if ten dollars is enough to buy a bottle of wine that will complement a fifty-dollar cheesecake.
  36. connoisseur
    an expert able to appreciate a field
    “Since when did you become a wine connoisseur?”
  37. concur
    be in agreement
    “Sounds disgusting,” Brand says.
    “Yeah,” Topher concurs, putting it back.
  38. culminate
    end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage
    Black currant, cocoa, violet and smoky aromas, complemented by undertones of raspberry and loam, culminates in a silky and prolonged finish.
  39. loam
    a rich soil consisting of sand, clay and organic materials
    “Just get the first one. The one without the loam.”
  40. whim
    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
    As Topher and Brand stand there arguing, I follow a whim and type the name George Nelson into my phone.
Created on Wed Nov 16 12:03:46 EST 2022 (updated Thu Mar 16 14:32:02 EDT 2023)

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