The Madman of Piney Woods: Chapters 1–6

by Christopher Paul Curtis
Thirteen-year-olds Benjamin (the son of runaway slave) and Alvin (the grandson of Irish immigrants) live in different Canadian towns in 1901, but they meet in the woods and end up working together to hunt down the Madman in this companion novel to Elijah of Buxton.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–16, Chapters 17–21, Chapters 22–32, Chapters 33–50
40 words 77 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. irksome
    tedious or irritating
    It’s probably not their fault, but I find it irksome when Mother and Father and so many other people in Buxton get this surprised look of amazement whenever Pay and Stubby show off something they’ve made.
  2. consistency
    uniformity or stability in arrangement, behavior, or quality
    Grandmother O’Toole says structure and consistency are the backbones of a righteous life, so at the exact same day and time of each week, she and I walk to purchase the week’s groceries.
  3. excursion
    a journey taken for pleasure
    These excursions are a good and true measure of how much I have matured over the years.
  4. inkling
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    But even as young as seven, I had an inkling that something wasn’t right with our walks.
  5. impudent
    improperly forward or bold
    I pointed, and even though she told Father otherwise, I truly wasn’t trying to be disrespectful or impudent; what I saw in that window caused heartfelt surprise.
  6. silo
    a cylindrical tower used for storing grain
    I’d always pictured Grandmother O’Toole as a towering silo of a person.
  7. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    The woman who was peering so intently into the window with her right hand shading her eyes?
  8. shabby
    showing signs of wear and tear
    The woman in rather shabby clothes who was only a wee bit taller than the redheaded lad; the woman who couldn’t have weighed more than ninety-five pounds?
  9. revelatory
    serving to make something apparent or clearly visible
    Those words were as revelatory to me as the sight that led the little boy in the fable to say, “But the emperor has no clothes!”
  10. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    I looked at Grandmother O’Toole, but she was glaring at the fireman. My skin flushed.
  11. keen
    having or showing interest and intense desire
    “Why’s the way I walk to the grocery store any matter to ye? Perhaps if ye were as concerned about what goes on in yer house with yer wife and daughters when yer gone, ye’d not be so keen to be prying into other people’s business.”
  12. magpie
    an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker
    She pulled me along by my collar and hissed at me, “If ye say one word to him, ye little magpie, I’ll strap ye within an inch of yer blessed life, then tie ye to a tree in the South Woods so’s that black savage Lion Man can come and eat all the meat off yer very bones.”
  13. balderdash
    trivial nonsense
    Grandmother O’Toole said, “Pardon me if ye would, before ye foul the air with any of the balderdash tha’ ’tis rattling about in your head, and tell me, is yer father still among the living?”
  14. ail
    be unwell
    I know it’s convenient for ye to forget, but yer lovely, ailing father wouldn’t serve us, wouldn’t even let us in the door.
  15. heathen
    a person who does not acknowledge your god
    “How dare they? How dare they put a good white Irish soul in the same light and breath that they put one of those black heathens from Buxton? ’Tis the grandest of insults; for that they’ll never be forgiven.”
  16. shingle
    building material used as siding or roofing
    Spencer said, “From down here it looks better put together than my own home. Look at the way those joints are perfectly tight, and how those windows fit. And the shingles! They’re so spot-on, it looks as though they were painted on instead of being real pieces of cedar. This is amazing!”
  17. grandstand
    behave or perform in a showy way to impress an audience
    “They’re showing off,” I said. “They don’t have a bit of humbleness between them; they’re grandstanding.”
  18. forensics
    the art or study of formal debate and argumentation
    I hate moments like this! Times when you’re arguing with a forensics champion who lives and breathes public speaking, and all of the good points seem to be on his side. It’s like every argument you come up with gets sunk as soon as you launch it.
  19. addled
    confused and vague; used especially of thinking
    “Benji Alston, that is the worst idea I’ve ever heard in my life. I’ve got a better idea. Instead of tearing it down and putting it back up, why don’t we pretend we took it down, go swimming, then come back and pretend we put it up again? You’re sounding very addled, you know.”
  20. cinch
    any undertaking that is easy to do
    Taking the tree house down was a cinch; we had it resting on the ground with less than a day’s work.
  21. impartial
    free from undue bias or preconceived opinions
    Therefore, if I would have simply and impartially observed all of the data, I would not have been so startled when the truth became clear.
  22. middling
    average or mediocre in quality or ability
    We looked at each other before I finally said, “So how are you doing?”
    “I’m fair to middling.”
  23. askew
    turned or twisted to one side
    When he set me down, the hat he was wearing was knocked askew, and I could see that his right eye was swollen shut and his lip was puffy and appeared overly ripe.
  24. prattle
    idle or foolish and irrelevant talk
    Curly brushed their questions aside and said, “By the time I answer all your prattles and nonsense, the fish will quit biting.”
  25. redundant
    more than is needed, desired, or required
    Curly said, “You’re pretty tall, ain’t you?”
    Petey looked down into Curly’s eyes in such a way that any answer would be redundant.
  26. intemperate
    excessive in behavior
    Those intemperate words made every one of us on the road that night freeze.
  27. constable
    a law officer with limited authority
    He knew if he showed up at school again bruised and beaten by his drunken father, Miss Jacobs would notify the constable.
  28. indisputable
    not open to question; obviously true
    It was indisputable; the variables were all there.
  29. yellow-bellied
    easily frightened
    “You ain’t gonna do nothing? You’re just a yellow-bellied coward!”
  30. folderol
    nonsense or foolishness
    “...this folderol, it would have been a lot less painful if we had just walked up to Patience and Stubby, punched each of them in their noses, then taken our punishments.”
    What could I say? The whole adventure was ridiculous.
  31. chalet
    an alpine house or cottage with a steeply sloping roof
    In a dead voice, Patience said, “It is real. Charming Little Chalet in the Woods has been turned upside down.”
  32. blowhard
    a very boastful and talkative person
    Patience snorted and said, “Benji is just a blowhard. I trust that boy as far as I can throw him.”
  33. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    She clambered down the ladder, holding my note.
  34. gale
    a strong wind moving 34–40 knots
    If one were to look beyond the laughing and high spirits, their physical appearance suggested they had been caught in the pounding surf at Lake Erie during a gale.
  35. protrude
    extend out or project in space
    A plum-sized lump protruded from the centre of his forehead as if he were attempting to become a unicorn.
  36. respective
    considered individually
    Hickman and Curly looked at each other through their respective one eye that was open and laughed.
  37. oratorical
    related to the practice of public speaking
    She teaches English, and he has won the Upper Ontario Forensics Competition two of the past three years and sees every chance to speak in public as an opportunity to show off his oratorical skills.
  38. modest
    marked by simplicity; having a humble opinion of yourself
    To my dear gathered fellow students whom are here all together on this special occasion of Mr. Bennett apologizing, I, being the humble and modest soul that all of you have learned to respect, must say that I too have fallen short and that to admit this to such a distinguished group leaves your lowly speaker humiliated and at a loss for words.
  39. distinguished
    standing above others in character or attainment
    To my dear gathered fellow students whom are here all together on this special occasion of Mr. Bennett apologizing, I, being the humble and modest soul that all of you have learned to respect, must say that I too have fallen short and that to admit this to such a distinguished group leaves your lowly speaker humiliated and at a loss for words.
  40. verbiage
    overabundance of words
    Please limit the verbiage and get to the point.
Created on Thu Sep 29 10:37:24 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Jun 30 13:35:04 EDT 2023)

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