A Girl Named Disaster: Chapters 1–8

by Nancy Farmer
Eleven-year-old Nhamo flees from her abusive aunt's home in Mozambique and embarks on a dangerous journey to find her father in Zimbabwe.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–16, Chapters 17–24, Chapters 25–32, Chapters 33–42
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. mortar
    a vessel in which substances can be ground with a pestle
    She hauled it back to the kitchen hut and poured the grains into a mortar made from a tree trunk.
  2. idle
    not in action or at work
    Her cousin wasn’t exactly idle, but she was never given the really difficult tasks.
  3. winnow
    separate the chaff from by using air currents
    When the husks were loosened, Nhamo poured the grain into a winnowing basket.
  4. chaff
    material consisting of seed coverings and pieces of stem
    She tossed it repeatedly until the breeze blew the chaff away.
  5. strife
    bitter conflict; heated or violent dissension
    Since that time people have had to work hard, and their lives have been full of strife and danger.
  6. ferment
    cause to undergo the breakdown of sugar into alcohol
    Nhamo thought longingly of the cool, sour taste of the fermented mealie-water.
  7. venture
    proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
    Nhamo was afraid, too, but she had a compelling reason to venture out alone.
  8. gourd
    container made from the dried shell of a large, round fruit
    She removed pots, wooden spoons, a drinking gourd, an old cloth Aunt Chipo once used to cover her hair, and a knife Uncle Kufa had hurled into a bush when the tip broke off.
  9. reverent
    feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
    Reverently, Nhamo smoothed out the cloth and put the utensils on it.
  10. haunch
    the upper part of the leg of an animal, often used for food
    It was sitting on its haunches, barely visible in the speckled light.
  11. relish
    spicy or savory condiment
    Masvita was cutting up onions and tomatoes for relish.
  12. willful
    habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition
    Uncle Kufa was telling one of his favorite stories about a willful girl who insisted on running off with a strange man her parents didn’t like.
  13. totem
    emblem consisting of an object such as an animal or plant
    A child’s totem, and therefore its true kinship, came from the male parent.
  14. bask
    derive or receive pleasure from
    At other times, such as tonight, she was content to bask in Ambuya's affection.
  15. querulous
    habitually complaining
    “Help me!” came Takawira’s querulous voice.
  16. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    He wrapped his old gnarled fingers around the enamelware cup.
  17. mollify
    cause to be more favorably inclined
    Then, driven more by thirst than by any desire to return home, she gathered a bundle of wood—to mollify Aunt Chipo—and trudged back to the stream.
  18. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
    “Your mother grew slowly,” said Ambuya, startling Nhamo out of her reverie.
  19. modest
    humble in spirit or manner
    She was modest and obedient. She never put herself forward, but kept her position respectfully equal with other people, and she did not say irritatingly clever things.
  20. extravagant
    unrestrained, especially with regard to feelings
    The praises became more extravagant as the beer flowed.
  21. reedy
    thin and high-pitched in tone
    Old Takawira sang in a reedy voice as his son played an mbira, a hand piano.
  22. barren
    not bearing offspring
    On the other hand, Vatete said, even a barren goat was too much for some women, not mentioning names of course.
  23. bleak
    offering little or no hope
    At least it shows they believed me about the leopard, thought Nhamo with a bleak smile.
  24. disposition
    your usual mood
    Anna had a nasty disposition, and everyone knew that her great-grandmother had been a witch.
  25. welt
    a raised mark on the skin
    At first Nhamo barely noticed the welts Aunt Chipo had inflicted.
  26. stingy
    unwilling to spend
    Uncle Kufa was so stingy, he would rather eat boiled weevils than admit porridge had gone bad.
  27. ply
    use diligently
    The boatman plied his homemade nets not far from shore and brought in fat bream and tiger fish.
  28. implore
    beg or request earnestly and urgently
    Aunt Chipo, far from well herself, implored her daughter to live with heartbreaking cries until Grandmother ordered her to sleep in another hut.
  29. pallor
    an unnatural lack of color in the skin
    Slowly, the gray pallor faded and the killing fever cooled from her cousin’s skin.
  30. blubber
    cry or whine with snuffling
    “She looks like an old cooking pot,” blubbered Aunt Chipo.
  31. dismay
    fear resulting from the awareness of danger
    Nhamo shrank against the wall in dismay.
  32. ebb
    fall away or decline
    Every hour saw its strength ebb away.
  33. sterile
    incapable of reproducing
    “She’s sterile,” moaned Aunt Chipo. “I’ll never have grandchildren.”
  34. wean
    gradually deprive of mother's milk
    The baby had been weaned far too early and was unhappy with a diet of watery porridge...
  35. rabid
    infected by an acute viral disease of the nervous system
    Grandmother said that perfectly good ngangas were sometimes tempted to use their power for evil. Once they did, she said, you didn’t go near them, any more than you would approach a dog that had gone rabid.
  36. qualm
    uneasiness about the fitness of an action
    Apparently the trader had no qualms about drinking swill himself.
  37. brood
    think moodily or anxiously about something
    Nhamo brooded in the shadows as Ambuya and the trader discussed dead relatives.
  38. mangy
    affected with a skin disease causing itching and hair loss
    Proud ran away like the mangy dog he was.
  39. plaintively
    in a manner expressing sorrow
    “Now can we have the radio?” someone called plaintively.
  40. belligerently
    in the manner of someone eager to fight
    “What of it?” Ambuya said belligerently.
Created on Wed Aug 24 13:12:38 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Sep 23 12:47:05 EDT 2022)

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