Strange Birds: Chapters 1–9

by Celia C. Pérez
When twelve-year-old Purslane DiSanti visits her grandmother in Florida for the summer, she sends out invitations for a secret Scout troop, who decide that their first mission is raising awareness about how the desire for feathered hats harms birds.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–20, Chapters 21–29, Chapters 30–40
40 words 15 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. generic
    having no special or distinctive characteristics; unoriginal
    Ofelia knew they were nice pencils. Not generic twelve-for-two-dollars pencils.
  2. muster
    summon up, call forth, or bring together
    As a rinsed-out can of Goya black beans flew through the air, it occurred to Ofelia that the only thing that really changed from week to week was the item Doña Amalia threw at the bird with all the strength her seventy-something-year-old arm could muster.
  3. strut
    walk in a proud, confident way
    The can missed its mark but startled the rooster who flew from his perch, squawking angrily as he strutted down the street.
  4. corruption
    use of a position of trust for dishonest gain
    In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, journalists like Ida B. Wells, Nellie Bly, and Ida Tarbell exposed corruption. They noticed injustices and then, through their stories, forced the world to notice them too.
  5. muckraker
    one who spreads real or alleged scandal about another
    Ms. Niggli said no one really used the term muckraker anymore, that today they call them investigative journalists.
  6. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    Still, Ofelia relished the idea of raking the muck off and exposing things.
  7. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    She squinted up at the makeshift flagpole and blew a strand of hair out of her sweaty face. Her brothers’ flag, an old pillowcase with a large D for DiSanti sloppily written on it in red marker, still hung from the pole.
  8. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    The way the bird looked at her intently, its head tilted, one eye turned in her direction, made her feel like it knew something about her that even she didn’t know.
  9. afghan
    a blanket knitted or crocheted in strips or squares
    A hammock made of thick, interwoven ropes was strung across one end, a crocheted afghan lay in a ball inside it.
  10. mote
    a tiny piece of anything
    Lane held her breath and shook it out, watching dust motes swirl and scatter.
  11. warp
    bend or twist out of shape
    Most of the cubbies were empty, but a few still held items her brothers had left behind: a game of checkers and a deck of cards, a box of matches and a flashlight, a deflated football, and a few books whose pages were stuck together, their covers warped from rain.
  12. churn
    stir cream vigorously in order to make butter
    He wasn’t about to churn butter or even make it by shaking cream in a jar like Aster had shown him.
  13. industry
    the action of making of goods and services for sale
    For example, if he wanted to find out what the citrus industry was like in South Florida the year he was born—a year that Aster knew only because she found his missing birth certificate while helping him look for his also-missing Social Security card—he had to go to the library.
  14. reel
    a roll of photographic film holding a series of frames
    The end of the film reel swooshed between the plates of glass and released, spinning and flapping on its spool, until her grandfather turned the knob to stop it.
  15. matinee
    a theatrical performance held during the daytime
    “The matinee starts at two,” she said.
  16. fleur-de-lis
    plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals
    “How does coq au vin sound for dinner?” Aster asked, flipping through the library’s reference copy of the cookbook with the white cover and little orange fleur-de-lis and turquoise stars.
  17. conversion
    a change in the units or form of an expression
    She loved everything about it: the list of measurement conversions; the line illustrations of cutting techniques; the way the recipe names were all in French, and she had to look them up online to hear how they were pronounced.
  18. gallows
    an instrument from which a person is executed by hanging
    Cat remembered how she had anxiously looked forward to her seventh birthday when she would finally be old enough to join the Floras, just like her mom and her sisters. But on that Thursday afternoon, five years later, she felt like she was on her way to the gallows.
  19. mangrove
    a tree that grows in salty, tropical water near the coast
    A rusted chain was still the only barrier between the end of the property and the tangle of mangrove roots below.
  20. jut
    extend out or project in space
    A short wooden pier, its planks rotted with age, jutted out from the yard like a tongue lapping water.
  21. adherence
    faithful support for a cause or political party or religion
    The girl was picked based on volunteer work, salesmanship, etiquette, knowledge of local flora, and adherence to the Floras oath and laws.
  22. incredulously
    in a disbelieving manner
    “Not use it? What is going on with you, Catarina?” Mrs. McAllister asked incredulously.
  23. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    They had left Cuba, an island in the Caribbean that looked like the gnarled finger of a witch, when they were just a little older than Ofelia.
  24. skulk
    move stealthily
    She had seen the girl a few times since she arrived, skulking around her grandmother’s property, dressed all in black like the girl from that old television show about the family of monsters.
  25. indignation
    a feeling of righteous anger
    If she were with her parents she would just let her indignation roll out like a tidal wave, but the last thing she wanted was for her grandmother to insist on it.
  26. appeal
    be attractive to
    She was currently stuck between two unknowns: being with her grandmother, a woman she barely knew; and being in New York, starting a new life with her mother. Neither unknown appealed to her.
  27. emboss
    raise in a relief
    Gold- embossed flowers framed the frayed purple clothbound cover.
  28. patron
    a regular customer
    Ms. Falco was helping a patron at a computer, so Lane walked over and grabbed two of the bags.
  29. legacy
    anything handed down by someone or something in the past
    Cat had seen photos of her mother at twelve, beaming proudly into the camera with the feathered hat resting on her long dark hair. Mrs. Garcia dreamed of a Miss Floras legacy with her four daughters. But so far, she was zero for three. Neither Cari, Carmen, nor Clara had been Miss Floras.
  30. ornithologist
    a zoologist who studies feathered animals
    Cat’s dream was to be an ornithologist. Her mom didn’t have a problem with that because it meant going to college and “using her brain.” She and Cat’s father had even given her a pair of starter binoculars for her birthday.
  31. trill
    a note that alternates with another note a semitone above it
    She put her binoculars to her eyes and searched for the source of the sharp single note followed by a melodic trill.
  32. rustle
    make a dry crackling sound
    Leaves rustled, and she waited for the bird to appear in her line of vision, but it flew away too fast for Cat to see anything but a flash of red.
  33. regal
    belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler
    She found her favorite painting of the regal snowy egret, Egretta thula, plate 242, standing in what looked like a marsh.
  34. ladyfinger
    small finger-shaped sponge cake
    The closest thing in the book to cookies was a recipe for ladyfingers, so she decided to make those.
  35. morbid
    suggesting the horror of death and decay
    It was called a shotgun house because the rooms were built in a row and if a gun were fired into the entrance of the house the bullet would travel straight through and out the back door. Aster wondered why the explanation had to be so morbid.
  36. intrigue
    cause to be interested or curious
    She had been intrigued by the piece of paper she found inside a library book-club tote.
  37. imposing
    impressive in appearance
    She pedaled up to the address on the invitation and stared at the imposing gate.
  38. venture
    proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
    After all, she was farther on the other side of the Wall than she typically ventured.
  39. palatial
    relating to or being a large and stately residence
    But nothing she read in a book prepared her for the sight of the house and its surrounding gardens.
    Her grandfather never used the word palatial, but that was exactly what it was.
  40. commission
    the state of being in working order and ready for operation
    The lions’ mouths were open in roars and had little holes in them from which they spouted water into a stone pool full of koi fish. A few of the lions seemed to be out of commission.
Created on Wed Mar 06 08:32:57 EST 2024 (updated Wed Mar 06 14:05:04 EST 2024)

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