Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence: Chapters 11–19

by Sonja Thomas
Twelve-year-old Mira Williams, an Orlando Magic fan and budding astrophysicist, focuses on facts when she sets out to save her sick cat.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–19, Chapters 20–30, Chapters 31–38
40 words 14 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. benign
    not dangerous to health; not recurrent or progressive
    “Tests came back benign, Ms. Elmira. God is great!”
  2. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    Another polyester dress, this one in marshmallow white, sauntered down the aisle, topped with a ginormous hat decorated with a pink bouquet around the brim.
  3. sashay
    walk with a lofty proud gait, often to impress others
    Several heads turned as Gervean Campbell sashayed through the opened double doors, dressed in a perfectly fitted sapphire pantsuit and really high black heels.
  4. tiered
    having or arranged in layers or levels
    After the navy-robed singers settled into their tiered seats at the back of the stage, the crowd straightened as the pastor strutted into the spotlight.
  5. relativity
    the theory that space and time are not absolute concepts
    I believed in the theory of relativity and everything else I’d learned in Miss Kirker’s classes.
  6. haunch
    the upper part of the leg of an animal, often used for food
    A backward question mark formed the lion’s head and chest, and a triangle to the left represented the lion’s haunches.
  7. bound
    move forward by leaping
    I bounded through the front door.
  8. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    Fact: Pavlov’s dog may have learned to salivate when hearing a ringing bell, but when a bell jingled as Dad and I entered the Brevard Animal Clinic, my poor skittish nerves were startled.
  9. hypochondriac
    a patient with imaginary symptoms and ailments
    Maybe I was one of those hypochondriacs, obsessing over Fig’s health.
  10. usher
    accompany or escort
    She ushered us into an unoccupied all-white room with a set of cabinets and a big scale on top of a table.
  11. waver
    move back and forth very rapidly
    The needle zoomed up and wavered between fourteen and fifteen pounds.
  12. prod
    poke or thrust abruptly
    He wheeled out the stool and settled down, poking and prodding Fig’s trembling girth.
  13. girth
    the distance around something, especially a person's body
    He wheeled out the stool and settled down, poking and prodding Fig’s trembling girth.
  14. domestic
    of or involving the home or family
    Well, one in two hundred fifty domestic cats currently develop diabetes, usually in midlife or older. Researchers have concluded that excess body weight due to overeating, physical inactivity, or both often contributes to the disease.
  15. chronic
    long-lasting or characterized by long suffering
    "...Ketoacidosis...blah, blah, babble...fructosamine test...yak, yak, burble...chronic hyperglycemia...gush, surge, gurgle...”
  16. jargon
    technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject
    I drowned in the flood of technical jargon.
  17. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    The vet got up from the stool and dug through the cabinet drawers, prompting Fig to make his second escape of the day. Actually, his third if you counted the twenty minutes it took to coax him out from under my bed and lock him up in his plastic carrier.
  18. elaborate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    In the eat-in area of the kitchen, I spent over an hour constructing an elaborate obstacle course and placed Sir Fig Newton’s food dish at the end.
  19. tinny
    thin, metallic, and displeasing in sound
    “Miranium,” Thomas’s voice sounded weird and tinny.
  20. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    I turned down the next block, whizzing past the cookie-cutter houses painted in one of three shades: bitter brown, sour cream, or sullen yellow. My brain scrambled for a hip-wiggling rhythm to force my heartbeat racing into joy.
  21. bustle
    move or cause to move energetically or busily
    No Mrs. Thompson bustling around cleaning and cooking or in her favorite spot, on the blue sofa glued to her favorite soap, Days of Our Young and Restless Lives, or whatever it was called.
  22. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    I faltered. Knowing Tamika, she’d probably complained about my campaign to overtake her first-place science fair domination.
  23. imbibe
    take in liquids
    Tamika held a glass under my nose. “Imbibe this.”
  24. elixir
    a substance believed to cure all ills
    “We’d always feed my brother orange juice whenever he got the shakes. He called it his magic elixir.”
  25. sterile
    free of pathological microorganisms
    I hugged him tight, his fur smelling like a mix of dogs and vet chemicals, pungent and sterile.
  26. mangle
    destroy or injure severely
    “So, what? You’re just going to let poor Fig get sicker and sicker until...”
    The thought mangled my insides.
  27. slog
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    Fig slogged into the room with a soft “mew” and then rubbed up against my leg.
  28. buffet
    piece of furniture that stands at the side of a dining room
    Mom got up from the table, the wooden legs of her chair scraping across the floor, and dug inside the middle drawer of the cherrywood buffet.
  29. contortion
    a tortuous and twisted shape or position
    She went back to work, making calculations on her notepad, her face scrunching into all kinds of twists, strains, and contortions.
  30. lucrative
    producing a sizeable profit
    So first thing in the morning, I approached Mrs. B, hoping to hit her up for a lucrative babysitting gig.
  31. regal
    belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler
    Once I looked over, he plopped back onto the carpet into a regal sitting position, his lime-green eyes piercing into mine.
  32. resentment
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    I placed his food dish at the end of the obstacle course I’d constructed the day Fig was at the vet. He gazed longingly at the food bowl and then turned to me with desperation and a hint of resentment.
  33. singe
    burn superficially or lightly
    He stared at me, his gaze boiling. At any second the hairs around his eyes would singe.
  34. defeatist
    someone who is resigned to an unsuccessful ending
    I shook off my defeatist attitude and gave Fig a confident nod, followed by a scratch under his chin. Babysitting might not be enough, but I wasn’t about to give up.
  35. ether
    a medium that was once thought to fill all space
    One by one, thought bubbles trickled from my brain and out my ears, rising into the ether.
  36. refract
    subject to change in direction of a propagating wave
    I could replace my dead phone, buy a tablet, and finally get that new astronomical refractor telescope, the one with the large field lens and high magnification, all at the top of my “What I Want More Than Anything Else” list—after saving Fig, of course.
  37. checkered
    patterned with alternating squares of color
    The following morning while I watched the always wailing and wriggling Sabrina, Dad dug through the cluttered mess in the garage and found the old card table and checkered tablecloth to be my snazzy lemonade stand.
  38. zealous
    marked by active interest and enthusiasm
    Suddenly a high-pitched “Stop!” disturbed my zealous rhythm.
  39. patron
    a regular customer
    The hovering mass—my former spiraling line of eager patrons—gasped.
  40. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    “Yeah, I guess,” I said with a sheepish grin.
Created on Thu Nov 09 07:47:37 EST 2023 (updated Fri Nov 10 14:41:50 EST 2023)

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