The Last Mapmaker: Chapters 31–42

by Christina Soontornvat
In the Kingdom of Mangkon, twelve-year-old Sodsai Mudawan lies about her family's background so that she could have a chance at a bright future.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–13, Chapters 14–22, Chapters 23–30, Chapters 31–42
40 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bestow
    give as a gift
    I begged my father to bestow the Sangra name on Rian. I even offered to give her links from my own lineal!
  2. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    In Rian’s absence, there was no sign of the crew’s disdain for Captain Sangra. They snapped to her orders without hesitation.
  3. scuttle
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    I scuttled to my cabin and flung open the door.
  4. pelt
    rain heavily
    But I could hear only rain pelting the deck boards.
  5. hallucination
    illusory perception
    Was that creature real? Or a hallucination?
  6. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    When Grebe rounded the corner, Bo sprang up, brandishing the pan like a club.
  7. mutiny
    open rebellion against constituted authority
    You know how this’ll look once we get home? We took control of the ship, then the captain—the Queen’s own flesh and blood—goes overboard. We’ve got the stench of mutiny on us thick.
  8. dire
    fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
    Given how dire my situation was, I shouldn’t have cared about being found out.
  9. debris
    the remains of something that has been destroyed
    I’d never have guessed there had been a storm at all if it weren’t for the debris floating around us. Scraps of torn sail, ropes and rigging, and broken crates and barrels littered the water around the Prosperity’s hull.
  10. craggy
    having a steep, rough, and rocky surface
    He pointed to a craggy black island a few hundred yards away. It was so small that I’d mistaken it for a pile of floating rubble.
  11. petrify
    cause to become stunned or immobile, as with fear or awe
    I already knew Bo was a good swimmer from our escape from the Prosperity. He’d kicked us the entire way to the island while I clung to the crate, useless and petrified.
  12. scour
    examine minutely
    With the sun going down, I scoured the beach, scooping up armfuls of fluffy dried seaweed.
  13. forlorn
    marked by or showing hopelessness
    The day we set foot on that forlorn little spot was the longest day of the year and the height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
  14. bask
    expose oneself to warmth and light, as for relaxation
    Even so, Bo couldn’t get rid of the chills. He spent most days lying huddled in my cloak, basking on the stones like a lizard.
  15. burble
    flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise
    I spent hours each day combing the shoreline for purple clams the size of a lotus seed. Hundreds burbled out of the sand whenever the waves washed back to sea.
  16. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    Even though I was exhausted, I trudged through the motions of keeping us both fed, watered, and warm.
  17. halting
    proceeding in a fragmentary, hesitant, or ineffective way
    I recognized only one word written in halting script over the sea: Alang.
  18. bail
    remove (water) from a vessel with a container
    “It’s battered, but the hull’s in decent shape. We can take turns bailing it out if it takes on water.”
  19. utterly
    completely and without qualification
    I’d just proposed something utterly impossible.
  20. reckoning
    problem solving that involves numbers or quantities
    The slightest wave would capsize us, and without a quadrant or scope, we’d be sailing on dead reckoning, which wasn’t much better than sailing with your eyes shut.
  21. unfounded
    without a basis in reason or fact
    We had started out much later than I wanted, but I was too afraid of getting caught in a storm to wait for morning. Now that we were on the water, it seemed that my fears were unfounded, at least for now.
  22. shabby
    showing signs of wear and tear
    It was a shabby one-room apartment, but it was a palace compared to what we’d been used to.
  23. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    The white backs of a dozen whales flitted past our boat like silent ghosts. I watched them, mesmerized by their white-pearl glow.
  24. flourish
    a showy gesture
    Bo bowed to me and made a flourish with one hand.
  25. saute
    fry briefly over high heat
    “How would you like your crab prepared tonight, madam?”
    I smoothed my fingers over an imaginary fancy hairdo. “Sautéed with scallions and dipped in fresh chili oil, if you please.”
  26. teem
    be full of or abuzz with
    Best of all, the beach and tide pools teemed with easy food: shrimp, crab, and octopus, so much that we didn’t even have to look at the clams.
  27. elements
    violent or severe weather
    The cave might not work for shelter if it was open to the elements on both sides.
  28. cavernous
    being or suggesting a large dark enclosed space
    The rising sun shone straight into the cavernous room, making it sparkle as if the light bounced off a thousand tiny mirrors.
  29. sliver
    (figurative) a small or narrow piece or slice
    I jumped back from the crack. Had she smelled me? But even if she had, she wouldn’t be able to get to me through that tiny sliver of space.
  30. pry
    move or force in an effort to get something open
    They’d pry off her dark scales, punch a hole through each one, and thread them on strings of leather.
  31. cleave
    separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument
    I took one step forward to get a better look, but the brittle rock crumbled and cleaved off, nearly taking me with it.
  32. accolade
    a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
    She went on, describing all the wonderful things that would happen for me when we returned. Accolades, opportunities, fame if I wanted it, solitude if I didn’t.
  33. sentry
    a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
    It took me two hours to climb down the ridge while Bo stood sentry over Rian with his crab spear.
  34. vouch
    give personal assurance; guarantee
    Three tries to convince the remaining sailors of the Prosperity, with Grebe vouching for my character, of what I had learned about Rian’s true nature, and what I had seen her do to our captain during the storm.
  35. draft
    draw up an outline or sketch for something
    I looked up from my drafting table to where Master Paiyoon sat bent over his desk.
  36. conjure
    summon into action or bring into existence
    I could tell that his mind was conjuring up images of all sorts of grim horrors.
  37. uncouth
    lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
    Thanks for sending me the book about the pirates. I liked that one. Had lots of gore. Much better than the boring scuzz my tutor makes me read. He told me my language was “uncouth.”
  38. charter
    engage for service under a term of contract
    After we abandoned Paiyoon on Avens Island, he had immediately chartered one of the little whaling barks to follow us.
  39. destitution
    a state without money or prospects
    I’d written each word in my own handwriting this time: Sandflea Beach, Destitution Harbor, Starvation Point, Deathfall Cove. I wanted the names I chose to paint a certain picture of the Sunderlands in the minds of anyone who read the map.
  40. barren
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    To help things along, I gave every newspaper in An Lung detailed accounts of how Bo and I nearly starved to death, baked to a crisp on barren, black-sand beaches while foraging for putrid clams.
Created on Sat Mar 25 13:27:43 EDT 2023 (updated Tue Mar 28 17:06:51 EDT 2023)

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