The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Spring: List 3

by Betty G. Birney
Young Eben, who lives in a small farming community, longs to experience the wonders of the world. But can he discover seven "wonders" in his own hometown, Sassafras Springs?

This list covers vocabulary from "Day Three Continued: Difficulties and Discoveries"–"Day Four: Smells and Spells."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
15 words 33 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. skedaddle
    run away, as if in a panic
    I skedaddled out of there before I had a chance to ask him about Wonders or about his cousin Holt.
  2. luncheonette
    a small restaurant serving simple, light meals
    Next door was Saylor’s Feed and Supply Store, and next to that was the Rite-Time, a six-stool luncheonette run by Minnie Raymond.
  3. claptrap
    foolish, empty, or pompous talk or writing
    Once Violet was gone, Hiram’s big voice boomed out across the store. “Well, Eben, what’s this claptrap I hear about the Seven Wonders of the World?”
  4. somber
    serious and gloomy in character
    As I jumped up, I glimpsed the somber tombstones all around me. But the sound wasn’t coming from the graveyard. It was coming from the church, and it wasn’t organ music either.
  5. hardscrabble
    involving struggle, difficulties, or poverty
    He lived just outside Sassafras Springs in a cluster of small hardscrabble farms everybody called Bent Fork, because it was tucked in next to the bend of the creek.
  6. parcel
    an extended area of land
    Though each farm there was no more than a shack and a square of land, Calvin’s parcel mysteriously yielded more food per square inch than any other farm in the area.
  7. peddler
    someone who travels about selling wares
    “How’d you learn how to do that?”
    “I saw a peddler play a saw once when I was just a pup, so I taught myself to play.”
  8. merely
    and nothing more
    “Eben, you’ll have to decide that for yourself,” said Calvin. “I don’t know about the world. To me, what happened with this saw wasn’t merely amazing. It was a miracle.”
  9. plague
    a swarm of insects that attack plants
    We finally realized that a plague of locusts had eaten all his crops in two days flat, and they were headed toward our farm.
  10. thriving
    very lively and profitable
    “Mr. Smiley, do you still play that saw sitting out in your fields?” I was thinking of his rows of thriving crops.
  11. preserve
    prevent from rotting
    Aunt Pretty’s cold supper was as tasty as most folks’ hot meals. Cold chicken, cold cornbread, sliced tomatoes with thin slivers of onion on top, and her sour pickles. A glass of milk, cooled in the spring-house, for washing it down. A dish of cooked peaches left over from her day of preserving to top it off.
  12. absolute
    complete and without restriction or qualification
    “Sit yourself down and I’ll tell you,” said Eulie. “I’ll tell you the absolute truth.”
  13. eerie
    suggestive of the supernatural; mysterious
    Not only did it give off a strange light, this table made an eerie wailing sound, like no human ever made.
  14. superstitious
    showing faith in magic and ignorance of the laws of nature
    Most people were superstitious around Sassafras Springs. Most still are. Maybe I’m one of them.
  15. swivel
    turn on a pivot
    I called out, “Who is that?” and the shining thing swiveled around.
Created on Sun Aug 31 11:40:36 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Oct 14 12:08:48 EDT 2025)

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