Ms. Bixby's Last Day: List 4

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 208–300 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 53 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. muster
    call to duty, such as military service
    You can answer the riddles and follow the map and muster your forces, but sooner or later, you will find the dragon or the demon or the king flopsucker himself, and you will have to pull your dead smartphone from its case and slay him and steal his Jack Daniel’s, even if it means a split lip and a swollen ankle.
  2. sprightly
    full of spirit and vitality
    She’s obviously a few years older than me, but she has one of those sprightly round faces that make her look young, like a nymph or something.
  3. mousy
    having a drab pale brown color
    Her mousy brown hair is pulled into a ponytail, and she has a dimple in her chin.
  4. teeming
    abundantly filled with especially living things
    The PlayPlace is teeming with toddlers and mothers begging them to eat one more chicken nugget.
  5. catatonic
    characterized by unresponsiveness or lack of movement
    Steve is catatonic, paralyzed by the thought of his parents coming to get him.
  6. incur
    make oneself subject to
    I could just dump my water all over her phone in the hopes of short-circuiting it, though I can’t imagine what level of wrath that would incur.
  7. perplexed
    full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
    I make a head motion to Brand, something intended to mean Let's make a break for it, but he just gives me a perplexed look. We really should have worked out some emergency signals ahead of time.
  8. composure
    steadiness of mind under stress
    She actually seems taken aback for a second, but she quickly regains her composure, her voice cool and even.
  9. intricate
    having many complexly arranged elements; elaborate
    “It was her poetry that got me,” Ms. Bixby continued. “It was intricate and complex and full of imagery and emotion. She would write her poems on scraps of paper, just like this.”
  10. invincible
    incapable of being overcome or subdued
    It’s funny how, as kids, we get these ideas in our head about what’s possible and what’s not. One day we’re invincible and the next day we are afraid of what’s in the closet.
  11. exacerbate
    make worse
    “Yes, you. You exacerbate the situation.”
    “I do not exacerbate,” I say. “Wait...what’s exacerbate mean?
    “You make it worse,” Steve explains.
  12. imposing
    impressive in appearance
    It’s just a hospital: steel and dark glass and sand-colored stone, though compared to the rest of the buildings around it, it looks brand-new and imposing, like some kind of impenetrable fortress.
  13. spiel
    artful or slick talk used to persuade
    There’s a difference between the truth and the whole truth. That’s why they give that big spiel in court, when they make you place your hand on the Bible and promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
  14. tiff
    a petty quarrel
    Sometimes it was classical. Sometimes it was talk radio. Once it was metal—she said she’d gotten in a little tiff with another teacher that day and needed Iron Maiden to help her unwind.
  15. resent
    feel bitter or indignant about
    The walk was the worst, every step reminding me what I could do that he couldn’t, what I had to do that he didn’t. I resented every moment I spent in the store, knowing this was food I would end up making and cleaning up after.
  16. protocol
    code of correct conduct
    I suddenly start to wonder what the protocol is for hospital security.
  17. perennial
    a plant lasting for three seasons or more
    We spent some time looking over the flowers that were set up outside, and Ms. Bixby taught me the difference between annuals and perennials.
  18. poised
    marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
    The head nurse, who is sitting at the station directly facing the elevators, watches us spill out, her hands poised above her keyboard, head twisted around, like Alexander’s owl.
  19. curt
    brief and to the point
    “Can I help you boys?” she says curtly as we approach.
  20. outlandish
    noticeably or extremely unconventional or unusual
    “Right. And what’s in the bags? Homework?”
    “Homework,” I confirm quickly, before Topher can think of something outlandish to say—in this case, the truth.
  21. slough
    cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers
    The doctor standing next to me put a hand on my arm, but I sloughed it right back off.
  22. sallow
    unhealthy looking
    The woman in the bed, just staring at us with her mouth hanging open, sallow cheeked and pale, is not Ms. Bixby.
  23. faltering
    unsteady in speech or action
    Her voice is raspy, faltering.
  24. hyperventilate
    breathe excessively hard and fast
    She presses her face into the bag and takes three giant whiffs, like she’s hyperventilating. Maybe she is. French fries are truly one of mankind’s greatest inventions.
  25. plait
    weave into a braided hairdo
    She looks more like a Helga or a Svetlana, like something out of Norse mythology, broad shouldered and brick chinned with plaited blond hair, like she should be guarding the bridge to Valhalla.
  26. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    Brand presses the L button at least ten times.
    “Come on, come on,” he says.
    Behind the desk, Nurse Georgia hears his coaxing and frantic pressing and glances up from her computer.
  27. preemptive
    designed to prevent an anticipated situation or occurrence
    “Preemptive strike,” Ms. Bixby says. “I shaved it before it could fall out on its own. I was getting tired of the pink anyway.”
  28. swath
    a path or strip (also figurative)
    A real park with a swath of trees and a three-tiered fountain and at least one decent-sized hill.
  29. intact
    undamaged in any way
    The glass stem is intact, but the cup part is smashed to pieces.
  30. misshapen
    so badly formed or distorted as to be ugly
    She gives me a look, the same look she gave me when I told her that I couldn’t do a math worksheet on the grounds that long division was a personal insult to calculators everywhere; then she points to the misshapen white cardboard mess that’s no longer even square anymore.
  31. warily
    in a manner marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    We all look at each other uncertainly, then Steve clears his throat and warily opens the lid.
  32. admonish
    scold or reprimand; take to task
    And I close my eyes and listen to the sound of Gandalf the Gray admonishing his favorite Halfling, of cars passing on the street behind us, and the sound of my own heartbeat keeping time to the rhythm of her words.
  33. anticlimactic
    ultimately disappointing after a promising or exciting start
    It seems a little anticlimactic, the ending. Everyone seems content just sitting there, so I keep my mouth shut and study the grass and think about what it must be like to come home after such a grand adventure, like Bilbo’s, and not have to listen to your parents yell at you for it.
  34. idle
    run disconnected
    In the parking lot the buses are idling, waiting for us.
  35. morbid
    suggesting the horror of death and decay
    “‘If you want me again, look for me under your boot soles,”’ she says. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds a little morbid.
  36. tumor
    an abnormal new mass of tissue that serves no purpose
    She died of complications from surgery resulting in traumatic blood loss during an attempt to remove one of the tumors that had laid siege to her pancreas.
  37. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    The dress she’s wearing has strange swirly figures embroidered on it.
  38. rapt
    feeling great delight and interest
    Ms. Bixby listens with rapt attention, unlike the rest of us—who are completely sick of hearing how fantastic Hawaii is, especially when it’s twenty degrees outside.
  39. amend
    set straight or right
    “French fries?” I just want to make sure I heard her right.
    “McDonald’s french fries,” she amends.
  40. sweeping
    broad in scope or content
    And there would be music. Tchaikovsky. Or Beethoven. Something grand and sweeping and maybe just a little bit sad. Played by a full symphony orchestra, just for my family and friends and me.
Created on Wed Nov 16 12:04:04 EST 2022 (updated Thu Mar 16 14:35:37 EDT 2023)

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