The Summer of Lost Letters: Chapters 4–9

by Hannah Reynolds
Needing to get away from her small town in western Massachusetts, seventeen-year-old Abigail Schoenberg decides to take a summer job in Nantucket to find out more about what her grandmother was like when she was young and in love with a mysterious man.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–9, Chapters 10–14, Chapters 15–20, Chapters 21–28
40 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sluice
    pour as if from a conduit that carries a rapid flow of water
    I pushed open the door, and my tension sluiced away.
  2. revel
    take delight in
    Also, this is as close as I’ll ever get to magical powers, so I need to revel in it whenever I can.
  3. affectation
    a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display
    She fanned herself with a magazine. I couldn’t decide if it was an affectation or not.
  4. moue
    a disdainful grimace
    “Nantucket’s going to be buried beneath the waves in several centuries.” I made a falsely apologetic moue as I delivered the tidbit, imparted to me by Jane alongside the cedar-shingle facts.
  5. skiff
    a small boat propelled by oars or by sails or by a motor
    We’d reached the wooden wharves, and I looked out at the harbor. Nantucket Sound lay flat as glass today. Small skiffs bobbed gently above their reflections.
  6. expound
    add details to clarify an idea
    When he shot me a skeptical look, I expounded.
  7. extrapolate
    draw from specific cases for more general cases
    “Okay,” Noah said, “so you think since your relationship didn’t work, no relationships work, and so my grandfather must have cheated on my grandmother?”
    “Oh my god, are you for real? You’re extrapolating way too much.”
  8. contentious
    involving or likely to cause controversy
    I lifted my chin, aware this part could be contentious. “He had one of her belongings. A necklace. I want to know what happened to it.”
  9. facade
    a showy misrepresentation to conceal something unpleasant
    Usually I tried to reserve my attitude for my family and present everyone else with a softer, politer façade.
  10. fallout
    any adverse and unwanted secondary effect
    “Because I don’t see your family on Nantucket. They’re not the ones who’ll have to deal with any fallout.”
    “What fallout? I just want to ask questions!”
  11. inflection
    the patterns of stress and intonation in a language
    Mom couldn’t always read inflection in my emails, but even she would probably notice the sarcasm wrought by my double exclamation points.
  12. reticent
    not inclined to talk or provide information
    Mom wanted to know about every person I’d come into contact with in enough detail to map out our relationships on a whiteboard. I was not, I must admit, reticent in complying with her demands.
  13. twee
    excessively or affectedly dainty, sentimental, or refined
    “You can borrow Aria’s. Sorry it’s so twee. Aria likes everything to be Instagram perfect.”
  14. haphazard
    marked by great carelessness
    The same group from last week sprawled across a haphazard map of blankets and towels, the corners of which were pinned down by shoes and purses.
  15. fodder
    an inferior but widely available resource used to supply heavy demand
    In the late darkness, it seemed obvious I wasn’t just running from loneliness, or searching for knowledge about O’ma’s past, or fodder for a college essay.
  16. ungainly
    difficult to handle or manage especially because of shape
    Noah, on the other hand, looked as beautiful and arrogant as always, though his curls spiraled more tightly and ungainly than usual, like he’d spent the morning on the beach.
  17. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    I glanced toward my friends, who’d meandered farther away while I’d consulted Ellie Mae.
  18. haughty
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    He caught up with me, practically bleeding haughty dignity. “I don’t do carnival games.”
  19. desolate
    crushed by grief
    Ten minutes and many shots later, Noah proudly presented me with a desolate-looking elephant. It sat on its haunches, staring out at the world with a tragic gaze. Its brows curved downward in an expression of despair.
  20. anthropomorphize
    ascribe human features to something
    Sure, you couldn’t anthropomorphize stuffed animals, but this elephant was one cruel comment away from sobbing beneath the bleachers.
  21. effervescent
    marked by high spirits or excitement
    We were young and alive and filled with effervescent joy.
  22. rampant
    occurring or increasing in an unrestrained way
    I love you guys but would like my dislike of rampant patriotism to be noted
  23. glib
    marked by lack of intellectual depth
    “What do you want me to say? I’m not getting anything else out of this except family history.” I tried to sound glib, one of my favorite forms of defensiveness.
  24. nonchalant
    marked by casual unconcern or indifference
    I shrugged, overly nonchalant.
  25. renege
    fail to fulfill a promise or obligation
    “If she moved in with them when she was a little kid, they would have been like siblings.”
    “I hate to disappoint you, but they weren’t.”
    He leaned forward, as though the sheer force of his personality could make me renege.
  26. affront
    treat, mention, or speak to rudely
    I was bizarrely affronted on my O’ma’s behalf.
  27. respective
    considered individually
    The Thursday after the Fourth, Jane and I had both gotten home from our respective shifts when her phone pinged.
  28. bracing
    refreshing or invigorating
    We windmilled our arms and laughed wildly as we fell into the cold, bracing lake.
  29. bereft
    sorrowful through loss or deprivation
    I wrapped my arms around my waist, oddly bereft. “I’ll see you later, then.”
  30. warble
    sing or play with trills
    Birds warbled cheerfully when I climbed out of the car, and the ocean’s tide wove in and out of their song.
  31. riffraff
    common or disreputable people
    It made me feel like riffraff, small and unwanted.
  32. undulate
    occur in soft rounded shapes
    It was no less impressive sans white tents and sound systems than it had been with them; better, perhaps, with just the undulating roll of green, the thick gardens, and the ocean on the horizon.
  33. brazen
    face with defiance or impudence
    Once more I wondered if I’d wandered off the path, into Oz or Narnia or some strange world where the rules weren’t mine and I didn’t know when I broke them. I swallowed and lifted my chin, hoping to brazen through.
  34. demarcation
    the boundary of a specific area
    Flagstones occasionally dotted the path, more a suggestion than a demarcation.
  35. indignantly
    in a manner showing anger at something unjust or wrong
    “You can trace your family back to the 1700s?” I asked indignantly. “And you’re mad I’m trying to find out about my family history from sixty years ago?”
  36. brocade
    weave a design into
    Cozy couches and brocaded armchairs were scattered about the thick carpets.
  37. glitzy
    tastelessly showy
    Smaller rectangle pendants connected with each other to form the band. It was vaguely art deco and gorgeous, glitzy and glittering.
  38. pejorative
    expressing disapproval
    I hadn’t been using nice as a pejorative. I meant it.
  39. abject
    of the most contemptible kind
    He pulled out his phone and stared at it with the abject coolness of someone definitely not doing anything on their phone.
  40. subtext
    a meaning that is not expressly stated but can be inferred
    “I’m going to some beach party. With my roommate.” Oh god, I was pathetic. Screaming subtext of Look at me, I’m popular never sounded convincing.
Created on Sat Mar 09 09:58:07 EST 2024 (updated Sat Mar 09 17:28:33 EST 2024)

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