The Wrong Way Home: Chapters 26–31

by Kate O'Shaughnessy
When twelve-year-old Fern's mom abruptly moves them both across the country, away from their sustainable Ranch community, Fern’s experiences broaden, and she must decide whether to trust her mom and her new emerging self, or return to the Ranch.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–5, Chapter 6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–18, Chapters 19–22, Chapters 23–25, Chapters 26-31, Chapters 32-34
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. excessive
    unrestrained, especially with regard to feelings
    So if there’s no focus on religion, then the Ranch can’t be a cult, right?
    But then there’s another definition, the third definition. It says, “a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing.”
  2. admiration
    a favorable judgment
    So if there’s no focus on religion, then the Ranch can’t be a cult, right?
    But then there’s another definition, the third definition. It says, “a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing.”
    That one I read again and again.
  3. momentum
    an impelling force or strength
    Recently, I’ve felt the creeping sense that it’s all been taking too long, that working for only four hours a week hasn’t been cutting it. Getting this email is like a truth-punch to the face. I’m losing momentum. I’m losing my focus.
  4. nonprofit
    an organization not designed for financial gain
    This organization is an environmental nonprofit that focuses on kids who are going above and beyond for their communities.
  5. exemplary
    worthy of imitation
    Every year they ask teachers to nominate students they think are setting an exemplary standard.
  6. nomination
    the condition of having been proposed as a candidate
    For the rest of the day, the nomination and the essay are all I can think about.
  7. manuscript
    handwritten book or document
    I still have Alex’s manuscript hugged against my chest.
  8. reinvent
    create anew and make over
    Like every new place we lived, there was a chance I could reinvent myself and be the kind of person with a hundred friends who were always around for dinner, who loved you. But every place we moved I was just myself, but lonelier. The only thing that changed was the scenery.
  9. grifter
    a person who swindles you by means of deception or fraud
    She calls him a “grifter.” I don’t know that word, but I can tell by the way she says it that I don’t want to learn it.
  10. frail
    physically weak
    “So I was right? They called you? Someone from the Ranch called?”
    Mom swallows. “Yes. It was Iris on the phone.” Iris, who was so frail and sick.
  11. dogma
    a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
    He makes you give up everything you know and think and love, and live exactly his way, according to his rules, his dogma, under his thumb.
  12. dispute
    a disagreement or argument about something important
    I went down a bit of a rabbit hole here; the property has been tied up in a legal dispute since late 2012, and then an additional case was opened in 2018 about adverse possession.
  13. adverse
    contrary to your interests or welfare
    Fern, Pretty sure this is your place. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole here; the property has been tied up in a legal dispute since late 2012, and then an additional case was opened in 2018 about adverse possession.
  14. maneuver
    move skillfully, as around obstacles or into a position
    We maneuver the table next to the rest of the furniture, which we’ve set up in the parking lot close to Birdie’s.
  15. taqueria
    a Mexican restaurant serving tacos, burritos, etc.
    She introduces me to a teacher at the local high school; the owner of Torres’s Taqueria, a restaurant Mom and I haven’t been to; a young family from San Francisco that just moved to the community; and even the mayor of Driftaway Beach.
  16. psychic
    affecting or influenced by the human mind
    I didn’t realize what a psychic burden it was to hold on to all that stuff.
  17. sustainability
    the use of methods that do not harm the environment
    Mom said he went there on vacation one time, instead of going to give lectures on sustainability.
  18. spleen
    a large oval organ between the stomach and the diaphragm
    She’s got a broken leg and a pierced spleen, which is what she’s in surgery for.
  19. piercing
    very perceptive
    As I draw closer, his features become clearer. He looks exactly the same. His weather-worn skin, his salt-and-pepper hair, his piercing blue eyes. He’s real. He’s here. He came.
  20. tuft
    a bunch or cluster of strands, as of grass, hair, etc.
    I think about the last time I saw her. A tuft of white-blond hair beneath her blanket.
Created on Sun Apr 27 11:20:47 EDT 2025 (updated Fri May 09 14:32:40 EDT 2025)

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