A Field Guide to Getting Lost: Chapters 8–12

by Joy McCullough
When her divorced father and his widowed mother start planning family dates in Seattle, Sutton Jensen (a nine-year-old girl who loves science) and Luis Paz (a ten-year-old boy who loves writing) must figure out how to get along.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–12, Chapters 13–20, Chapters 21–27
40 words 11 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. condescending
    characteristic of those who treat others with arrogance
    The man held his hand out for a handshake. Sometimes when adults did that to a kid, it felt condescending. But with Martin, it felt natural, like he was truly glad to meet him.
  2. steep
    set at a high angle (of a slope)
    “It’s so steep, the buses can’t get down.”
  3. interject
    speak abruptly, especially as an interruption
    There was an awkward silence before Martin interjected, “Sutton’s really into robotics right now.”
  4. memorabilia
    objects that are valued because of their link to historical events or a particular interest
    The museum had the best collection of memorabilia from classic sci-fi and fantasy movies anywhere.
  5. optical
    of or relating to or involving the physics of light
    “Right now I’m working with a mini-bot that has optical and proximity sensors,” she said.
  6. proximity
    the property of being close together
    “Right now I’m working with a mini-bot that has optical and proximity sensors,” she said.
  7. acquisition
    the act of contracting or assuming possession of something
    “Oh! Well our team bot has an ARM9 processor with a Linux-based operating system and four input ports for data acquisition of up to one thousand samples per second.”
  8. impasse
    a situation in which no progress can be made
    They’d reached an impasse. This was like when his abuelos used a Spanish phrase so local to their region that he couldn’t understand it or even figure out its meaning by looking it up.
  9. dwell
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    Actually, he’d been so distracted by trying to draw Sutton out that he hadn’t been dwelling on his story.
  10. sever
    cut off from a whole
    “Where does your mom live?” he asked as she stared in mild disgust at Luke Skywalker’s severed hand from The Empire Strikes Back. Not a real severed hand. It was a prop from the movie. But it looked way too real.
  11. gruesome
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    Sutton tore her eyes from the gruesome thing and looked at Luis.
  12. begrudge
    allow unwillingly or reluctantly
    Sutton sat, begrudgingly impressed Elizabeth knew about Eileen Collins. Everyone knew about Sally Ride, first American woman in space. But not as many people gave credit to Eileen Collins, first female commander of a NASA Space Shuttle.
  13. inscription
    a short message dedicating it to someone or something
    Both were featured in a book of great female scientists her mom had given her, with the inscription, The next time they write this book, YOU’LL be in it!
  14. ominously
    in a manner suggesting something bad will happen
    After they’d dropped Luis and Elizabeth off at their adorable little cupcake of a house, Sutton’s dad was ominously quiet all the way home.
  15. sabotage
    destroy property or hinder normal operations
    If you were trying to sabotage my relationship with Elizabeth, I hate to disappoint you, but it’s not going to work.
  16. bustle
    move or cause to move energetically or busily
    Once Mom was bustling around in the kitchen, Luis grabbed his notebook and looked over the pages he’d worked on last night.
  17. draft
    any of the various versions in the development of a work
    Luis was still working on the villain’s name. “The Dark Force” sounded too much like “the Dark Lord” mixed with the Star Wars “Force,” but that’s what first drafts were for.
  18. hub
    a focal point around which events revolve
    And it was only three blocks to Queen Anne Avenue, the hub of their neighborhood, and its cute little shops, including a convenience store that was sure to have at least a few art supplies.
  19. brace
    prepare for something unpleasant or difficult
    Luis braced for her reasons why he couldn’t, why it was too dangerous, why she would need to be the one to run all the errands for the rest of time eternal.
  20. succulent
    plant adapted to arid conditions with water-storing tissues
    She had finished with the succulents and started watering the Epipremnum aureum when her dad emerged from his bedroom in jogging clothes.
  21. invigorate
    impart strength or vitality to
    Unless you want to join me on my run? Let the fresh morning air invigorate your senses?
  22. willowy
    slender and graceful
    Sutton stepped out of the way and the willowy woman bustled out, followed by her three-year-old, Riley’s short-haired mom, and finally, Riley.
  23. smug
    marked by excessive complacency or self-satisfaction
    Riley’s cheeks flamed, and she lost all trace of smugness.
  24. essentially
    at bottom or by something's very nature
    “Looks like a jungle gym,” she said.
    “That’s what it is, essentially. A cat condo, I think it’s called.”
  25. behold
    see with attention
    The garden was a thing to behold, all twisty vines and cheerful flowers mingled together with herbs and tomatoes—Luis imagined Mary Lennox’s secret garden must have looked exactly like this one, except there was no wall around this one.
  26. extent
    the point or degree to which something extends
    When Penelope Bell first arrived at the Whitlow School for Extraordinary Children, she wasn’t even allowed to enter the school grounds until she’d gotten past a gryphon. Which had been tricky, because Penelope hadn’t yet realized the full extent of her powers.
  27. frantic
    excessively agitated; distraught with violent emotion
    It might have been his imagination, but he was almost certain the buzzing got more frantic.
  28. falter
    move hesitatingly, as if about to give way
    He faltered. But he was determined to succeed on this first hurdle.
  29. regardless
    in spite of everything
    At the Whitlow School for Extraordinary Children, the motto inscribed on the school crest was, “Courage is being afraid and charging forth regardless!”
  30. aggression
    violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked
    People who say bees will only sting if they fear aggression have clearly never been rushed to the emergency room while losing feeling in their arms and legs.
  31. craggy
    having a steep, rough, and rocky surface
    He took a step, and then two more, and then, in an unfortunate bit of neglect to street maintenance, an uneven part of the sidewalk where a giant root had broken through leaped up and made a sort of craggy hill out of the otherwise flat cement.
  32. agitated
    physically disturbed or set in motion
    Luis went sprawling and maybe yelped a little, and as he went down, he knocked into the lavender bushes. The bees went up in an agitated swarm, their morning meal of lavender pollen disturbed.
  33. sensation
    an awareness of some type of stimulation
    When he did not feel any sharp pains and still had sensation in his arms and legs, he peeked his head up.
  34. enticing
    highly attractive and able to arouse hope or desire
    Though it was tricky—it was the kind of obstacle that seemed enticing, completely not dangerous.
  35. provocation
    a means of arousing or stirring to action
    He wasn’t allergic to flowers or grasses or anything that grew (except peanuts), but his allergies meant his immune system was a little too excitable. It would react to the slightest provocation, and the wrong kind of pollen up his nose could send him into a sneezing fit that would have his mother hovering until high school graduation.
  36. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    The child’s father, completely oblivious to Luis’s predicament, crowed and cheered, praising the little boy for the extraordinary job he had done of breathing (though to be fair, in Luis’s experience, breathing was not always a simple matter).
  37. predicament
    an unpleasant or difficult situation
    The child’s father, completely oblivious to Luis’s predicament, crowed and cheered, praising the little boy for the extraordinary job he had done of breathing (though to be fair, in Luis’s experience, breathing was not always a simple matter).
  38. infiltrate
    enter a group or organization in order to spy on the members
    When spies from the Alistair Academy for Superior Children infiltrated the Whitlow School and tried to dose the Whitlow flyster team with a sleeping potion on the morning of the championships, Penelope had tricked them into dosing their own pomegranate juice.
  39. qualm
    uneasiness about the fitness of an action
    She wouldn’t have dosed the opposing team, as that would have been poor sportsmanship, but she had no qualms about dosing their spies and leaving them in a supply closet during the match.
  40. bounty
    the property of being richly abundant or plentiful
    And then he was at Queen Anne Avenue, and the corner store was to his left. A bounty of fresh markers awaited!
Created on Thu Mar 16 15:34:49 EDT 2023 (updated Sat Mar 18 10:59:16 EDT 2023)

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