Eight Nights of Flirting: Chapters 9–13

by Hannah Reynolds
During a Hanukkah vacation on the island of Nantucket, sixteen-year-old Shira Barbanel makes a deal with Tyler Nelson to give her flirting lessons in exchange for an introduction to her media executive great-uncle.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–8, Chapters 9–13, Chapters 14–17, Chapters 18–23
40 words 5 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gild
    decorate with, or as if with, gold leaf or liquid gold
    Sun streamed over him, picking up glints of gold in his wheat-blond hair, gilding his mysteriously tanned skin.
  2. appraise
    consider in a comprehensive way
    He sipped his coffee as he appraised me.
  3. curt
    speaking in a terse, rude, or abrupt way
    I tried not to sound curt.
  4. articulate
    put into words or an expression
    I didn’t want people to know if I had a crush on them. Which hadn’t seemed so weird until right now, as I articulated the feeling.
  5. wry
    humorously sarcastic or mocking
    He looked wry. “You will be shocked to hear I’m not just the good-for-nothing playboy you seem to think I am.”
  6. blanch
    turn pale, as if in fear
    I blanched. “What?”
  7. laissez-faire
    with minimally restricted freedom, especially in commerce
    I gave him a brittle smile, wishing I could be as laissez-faire as him.
  8. apt
    being of striking appropriateness and relevance
    It took very little googling to find an online resource of sailing vessels from Nantucket, aptly titled Catalogue of Nantucket Whalers: Their Voyages from 1815 to 1870.
  9. keel
    one of the main longitudinal beams of the hull of a vessel
    “It’s a type of sailing vessel. With at least two masts, lined up along the keel.”
  10. landlubber
    a person who is unfamiliar with sailing or the sea
    “Don’t you spend your summers on Nantucket?”
    “I’m a landlubber. Come on, be excited, you get to explain something to me.”
  11. discombobulated
    having self-possession upset; thrown into confusion
    Maybe I enjoyed seeing Tyler discombobulated.
  12. fallible
    likely to fail or make errors
    His parents made him human, fallible, in a way I wasn’t used to.
  13. aggrieve
    cause to feel distress
    He sounded aggrieved.
    Aggrieved meant he’d been roped into something and thought I, too, should have to deal with it.
  14. enclave
    an enclosed territory that is culturally distinct
    We parked off the street and headed to the top of the sledding area, a small enclave surrounded by trees, not far from the hospital.
  15. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “Does it really count as touching with fifty layers of goose down between us?” he mused, then took in my expression.
  16. smitten
    marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness
    I remembered how often I used to gaze at him and think, I am smitten.
  17. convulse
    contract involuntarily, as in a spasm
    My throat convulsed.
  18. careen
    move at high speed and in an uncontrolled way
    The sled careened from side to side, snow slashing up at us, the world a blur of white and blue and green.
  19. corral
    collect or gather
    We reached the top of the hill, where Noah had began corralling the cousins into gathering up sleds and far-flung hats.
  20. travesty
    a distorted, debased, or absurd imitation of something
    They spoke over each other to tell me about all the travesties of being twelve, which, to be fair, were many.
  21. insouciant
    marked by unconcern
    I waited in the entryway, taking in the decorations: a few holiday candles surrounded by holly; a worn rug, ancient but impeccably made; and a painting I hadn’t noticed before of a blonde... insouciantly pushing a vacuum cleaner, red-lipped like Marilyn Monroe.
  22. forbear
    refrain from doing
    Tyler must have been stronger than me, because he forbore to roll his eyes.
  23. unwieldy
    lacking grace in movement or posture
    I took a few gliding steps, my legs at first unwieldy, no longer familiar with the proper way to carry my weight.
  24. austere
    of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor
    Instead of smiling, Tyler looked almost austere.
  25. parse
    analyze in detail in order to discover essential features
    The words were so unexpected, it took a moment to parse them.
  26. nonchalant
    marked by casual unconcern or indifference
    I pretended to be nonchalant. “I used to compete and stuff. But I wasn’t good enough to be real.”
  27. morose
    showing a brooding ill humor
    “Mom had a giant family growing up. She loved it. Especially at the holidays. Now—she gets kinda morose. That’s why we came to Nantucket this year, actually—to try to change things up. Make her happier.”
  28. heyday
    the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
    There’d always been exhibits about nineteenth-century Nantucket, the heyday of whaling and its downfall, but I’d never paid intense attention.
  29. loath
    strongly opposed
    Olivia, checking to see if I wanted to meet up before Isaac arrived. I hesitated. I did, but I was oddly loath to leave Tyler.
  30. illicit
    contrary to accepted morality or convention
    Her eyes widened as they flicked toward Tyler, and I felt like I was doing something illicit.
  31. mortification
    strong feelings of embarrassment
    What, ask Olivia if she thought we were besties and risk the mortification of being gently let down?
  32. strident
    unpleasantly loud and harsh
    In the great room, an aunt and uncle were talking in strident tones about health care with Grandpa, who looked bored and somewhat disdainful.
  33. swoon
    be overwhelmed with ecstasy, especially when encountering something or someone you admire
    “He’s always been such a sweet boy. So friendly. When I was your age, I was swooning over Roger Klein.”
  34. moue
    a disdainful grimace
    She made a soft moue. “We liked each other, but he was never the kind of boy I was going to marry.”
  35. gambit
    an opening remark intended to secure an advantage
    Why hadn’t Tyler made me make a list of conversational gambits?
  36. urbane
    showing a high degree of refinement
    “Hello, Shira,” Uncle Arnold said, urbane as always, as I approached.
  37. benign
    pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence
    “How’s work?” Surely a benign question, given how I mostly encountered him in his work settings.
  38. de facto
    existing, whether with lawful authority or not
    Why did I have to be the de facto host?
  39. pander
    yield to; give satisfaction to
    I mean, I was bossy and in charge, yes, but I’d rather one of them asked, so it didn’t look like I was pandering.
  40. contemporaries
    all the people living at the same time or of the same age
    “It would be easiest if they’d kept journals or if their letters survived...but even if they didn’t, other people around them might have written down gossip. Nantucket contemporaries, or maybe even newspapers.”
Created on Mon May 15 10:52:54 EDT 2023 (updated Fri Jun 02 10:14:38 EDT 2023)

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