Summer of the Monkeys: Chapters 1–2

by Wilson Rawls
When 14-year-old Jay Berry Lee learned that there was a big reward for the return of the monkeys he and his hound Rowdy had discovered in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma, he was determined to catch them and win the reward for his family. He learned a lot about monkeys that summer, but it was the greater lessons about life and family that mattered the most.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–5, Chapters 6–8, Chapters 9–13, Chapters 14–19
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    I even coaxed Rowdy, my old bluetick hound, into helping me with this monkey trouble.
  2. sharecropper
    a tenant farmer who owes a portion of each harvest for rent
    They were unhappy, too; because in those days, being a sharecropper was just about as bad as being a hog thief. Everybody looked down on you.
  3. contraption
    a small mechanical device or tool
    To give the cradle a little bit of bounce, he tied the ropes to two cultivator springs and hung the whole contraption to the bows inside the covered wagon.
  4. budge
    move very slightly
    Papa knew better than to open his mouth, because once Mama had made up her mind like that, she wouldn’t have budged an inch from a buzzing rattler.
  5. katydid
    large green long-horned grasshopper of North America
    Even the little speckled tree frogs, the katydids, and the crickets were chipping in with their nickel’s worth of welcome music.
  6. crutch
    a staff that fits under the armpit and supports body weight
    She was always laughing and singing and hopping around on that old crutch just as if she didn’t have a worry in the world.
  7. slough
    a stagnant swamp
    It didn’t take Rowdy long to sniff out Sally Gooden. She was down by an old slough that emptied into the river. It was cool and shady along the banks of the slough and there was plenty of green grass.
  8. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    A jillion little game trails twisted their way through jungles of wild cane and matted masses of elder.
  9. foliage
    the collective amount of leaves of one or more plants
    As I walked around the big tree, I peered into the dark foliage.
  10. hopper
    funnel-shaped receptacle
    “Aw,” Papa said, turning to pour seed corn into the hopper of the planter, “you probably got scared and just thought you heard something.”
  11. instinct
    inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to stimuli
    “I expect that the monkeys were having a tough time finding food and water. Now all animals have an instinct that tells them where they can find food and water.”
  12. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    “Oh,” I said, looking sheepish. “I forgot all about that monkey. Why is it so important?”
  13. grit
    clench together
    I closed both eyes and gritted my teeth. I didn’t open my eyes again until I heard Grandpa chuckling.
  14. prance
    move or step in a lively, spirited, or showy way
    Rowdy pranced out of the store, looking as proud as he did when he had treed a possum.
  15. peddler
    someone who travels about selling wares
    “We have a whole barrel of apples,” I said. “Papa got them from an Arkansas peddler.”
Created on Thu Dec 04 20:28:16 EST 2025 (updated Fri Jan 09 17:21:03 EST 2026)

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