Ida B: Chapters 20–23

by Katherine Hannigan
Fourth grader Ida B. Applewood enters an angry "Black Period" when unfortunate circumstances change her life beyond her control. With the help of a kind teacher, a loyal cat and dog, her loving parents, and her own resilience, Ida B comes to have a better outlook on life.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–15, Chapters 16–19, Chapters 20–23, Chapters 24–32
15 words 7 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. raspy
    unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
    “Nope, my voice is just too tired,” Ms. W. said, and, sure enough, it was sounding weak and raspy.
  2. deteriorate
    grow worse
    Ms. W.’s voice was deteriorating at an alarming speed, because now she could only speak in a hoarse whisper, and everybody had to stop with their “please”ing just to hear her.
  3. quest
    the act of searching for something
    The book is about Alexandra, and her parents think she is quite difficult, but actually she is a genius who is assisting the also-genius scientist Professor Zelinski in her quest to explore the lost planet Z.
  4. overwhelming
    very intense
    “How was school today, Ida B?” Mama and Daddy would ask me every day after I first went back to Ernest B. Lawson Elementary School.
    And every day I’d say, “It was O. K.,” which now also stood for Overwhelming Kalamity.
  5. perky
    characterized by liveliness and lightheartedness
    There I’d be, grinning and gabbing, and the next thing you’d know Mama and Daddy would be thinking that I had transformed into my old perky self, that school was the best thing that ever happened to me, and maybe everything had worked out just fine after all.
  6. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
    I sat them both on my bed, and while Lulu glared at Rufus with the deadliest disdain, I told them my story.
  7. prospect
    the possibility of future success
    By the time I sat down to dinner, that happiness was doing somersaults of excitement in my stomach. It was jiggling with delight at the prospect of telling Mama and Daddy about my day.
  8. yearn
    desire strongly or persistently
    The part of me that knew how good it would feel to be held and cuddled was yearning.
  9. sneer
    a facial expression of contempt or scorn
    I looked back at her, eyes like slits and my mouth in a sneer, and yelled, “What are you waiting for? Didn’t you hear me? YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!”
  10. sappy
    very sentimental or emotional
    “I’m not mean. Really. Come back,” that soft, sappy part of me wanted to say.
  11. formidable
    inspiring fear or dread
    I was feeling pretty confident after my victory that morning, and I was thinking I was ready to take on my most formidable foes: Mama and, especially, Daddy.
  12. overburdened
    heavily weighted down or loaded with work or cares
    My cold, hard heart was in top form, and it was not taking prisoners, including sick ones, tired ones, or overburdened ones, in particular.
  13. solemnly
    in a serious and dignified manner
    “We, the undersigned,” it began, because I had looked that sort of thing up in the encyclopedia, “solemnly promise that there will be NO MORE:
    selling of land, cutting of trees, killing of things, or sending children to school against their will, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.”
  14. dismay
    the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles
    “Ida B, your Daddy and I have something we want to talk to you about.”
    My mouth was still wide open, but now it was hanging there out of surprise and a little dismay, because I hadn’t figured on an interruption.
  15. fallow
    left unplowed and unseeded during a growing season
    “Ida B,” Daddy said, “we’ve been thinking about the south field that’s been lying fallow for a while and that it might be a good place to plant some more apple trees.”
Created on Sat Oct 11 13:59:38 EDT 2025 (updated Fri Dec 19 18:27:24 EST 2025)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.