The Summer of Bitter and Sweet: Chapters 6–
11

by Jen Ferguson
Named after her Native American mother, eighteen-year-old Louisa Norquay must decide whether she wants to meet her criminal father in order to save her family's ice cream business and pay for an education at Canada's University of Alberta.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–11, Chapters 12–20, Chapters 21–28, Chapters 29–35
35 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. stagnant
    not circulating or flowing
    I grab yesterday’s swim bag from the floorboard of the truck. When the smell hits me, it’s bad. Like stagnant waters.
  2. aloof
    distant, cold, or detached in manner
    As if he could take it or leave it, body language all aloof, even with his swim shorts inelegantly plastered to his thighs.
  3. pithy
    concise and full of meaning
    It doesn’t feature a pithy statement about a social justice cause.
  4. acrid
    strong and sharp, as a taste or smell
    Ever since that night, when I pass this place, I taste smoke. It doesn’t matter if the air is clear, fresh; for me, it’s acrid.
  5. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    She’s fifteen and has this massive smile but doesn’t show it much. She’s a bit sullen.
  6. seethe
    be in an agitated emotional state
    I can’t afford to seethe—like Tyler. After a night of flame, anger can burn out.
  7. hinder
    be an obstacle to
    And I’m hanging out with King, getting to know him again, without active lies hindering us.
  8. berate
    censure severely or angrily
    Unlike Maurice, Dom won’t berate me. He remembers what it’s like to be young here.
  9. trope
    a common or clichéd plot device, idea, or theme in a creative work
    Enemies-to-lovers is a popular trope for a reason.
  10. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    My cheeks burn. He’s right. I’m acting like a child. Maybe I’m acting like Peter England’s child. No, no—I’m acting like I did when I ran with Tyler. I furtively check my hair for lingering smoke.
  11. strew
    spread by scattering
    The kitchen table is strewn with paperwork.
  12. retrofit
    substitute new or modernized parts for older ones
    Under that one, a bill for repairs to the production freezers after they failed a month ago. We lost our early stock and had to do major retrofitting.
  13. vat
    a large open vessel for holding or storing liquids
    Dom, from the stove top, where he’s heating up the whole vat of soup, asks, in that forever meddling tone of his, “So, yaence, how’s King Nathan working out?”
  14. rustic
    characteristic of rural life
    Dom passes me a thick slice of rustic bread.
  15. preemptive
    designed to prevent an anticipated situation or occurrence
    I didn’t want to give you the chance to lie to me. So I was preemptively in a mood?
  16. muddle
    mix up or confuse
    Turmeric can muddle the delicate flavors.
  17. saffron
    aromatic dried stigmas of a crocus flower, used as flavoring
    Saffron isn’t local, but it works too. Here, at the Creamery,
 we don’t mind a yellow that’s a little less vibrant if the
 flavor shines.
  18. sparse
    not dense or plentiful
    I’m sitting in a clearing in the sparse woods on a fallen log someone has made into a fairly comfortable bench.
  19. fallow
    left unplowed and unseeded during a growing season
    The whole party rushes from the fallow cornfield into the wooded clearing.
  20. swag
    products that are free (usually for promotional purposes)
    Even at nine years old, he was getting lectures from the RCMP while the white kids on the playground got stickers and other swag.
  21. intermittently
    in a manner of stopping and starting at irregular intervals
    She’s cradling her sister in her lap. Cami, eyes closed, moans intermittently.
  22. rile
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
    There’s a cop or two in that bunch—even if it riles Maurice to have them on our property.
  23. rancor
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    “There’s no point in all of us getting in trouble,” she says, but it’s without rancor.
  24. spleen
    a large oval organ between the stomach and the diaphragm
    They’re worried about internal bleeding. Her spleen, maybe.
  25. cul de sac
    a street with only one way in or out
    King’s dad’s house is tucked at the end of the street, on a cul-de-sac, and though the lights are off, the door, like it always was back in the day, is unlocked.
  26. stint
    an unbroken period of time during which you do something
    In the middle of the night, the island accent he swears was worn away by schooling, his stint in the military, his time on the prairies in a town with too few people who know the islands as a real place and not only as a playground for all-inclusive weeks away from winter, is fully present.
  27. suture
    a seam used in surgery
    “The tear will need sutures. A medical doctor would do better, with less scar tissue.”
  28. reprimand
    censure severely or angrily
    Dr. Nathan makes a sound in his throat but doesn’t reprimand King for swearing—like he usually would.
  29. rebuke
    an act or expression of criticism and censure
    “Son,” Dr. Nathan says. It’s not a rebuke, it’s comfort. As much as Dr. Nathan would rather we keep our language clean in his house, in his presence, tonight, in this room, where the crucifix hangs, he’s not going to insist.
  30. shroud
    cover as if with a burial garment
    My body tries to fight me here—to keep my secrets inside where they’re safe, where they can be shrouded in smoke.
  31. omission
    something that has been left out
    “It’s not a lie, more of an omission. Because it wasn’t any of your business.”
  32. kismet
    fate or fortune
    We must speak about the past and our future. With your mother out of town, this is kismet. Delaying our reunion longer will not help either of us heal from wounds she caused.
  33. beau
    a man with whom one has a romantic relationship
    My uncle’s been gone more and more too. Either in the production barn or visiting his secret beau.
  34. obscure
    make unclear, indistinct, or blurred
    But he laughs and it helps obscure the sound of the stitches as they slip out of my skull.
  35. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    There’s something I don’t like about his tone. How it’s a new kind of intimacy. “Okay, that isn’t ominous.”
Created on Thu Jun 01 11:26:23 EDT 2023 (updated Fri Jun 23 13:38:40 EDT 2023)

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