Black Star, Bright Dawn: Chapters 10–15

by Scott O'Dell
Due to her father’s injury, 18-year-old Bright Dawn takes his place in the Iditarod, the annual dogsled race in Alaska. Below zero weather, hungry wolf packs, exhaustion, and a thinning sled dog pack test all her wits throughout this grueling, 1,179 mile trek.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–9, Chapters 10–15, Chapters 16–20
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. stunted
    inferior in size or quality
    Oteg found a place on the riverbank among some stunted spruce trees.
  2. desperate
    showing extreme urgency or intensity because of great need
    I did a desperate thing. As the bull started toward us, I ran down the towline, loosened the buckles, and freed all of the dogs.
  3. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    I took off my parka, ran up the trail, and waved it frantically—a foolish thing to do, yet it saved us.
  4. lull
    a pause during which things are calm
    Just before dawn, at a lull in the screaming wind, I heard the wolf sounds again, the sounds I had heard at Skwentna.
  5. giddy
    having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling
    I couldn't be the winner, but here I was. I felt giddy in the head.
  6. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    At once I realized that we were on ice, thin ice, no more than a couple of inches thick. Ahead of us it was billowing like waves on the sea.
  7. lonesome
    being the only one; single and isolated from others
    It felt good to be free, but lonesome, too, and scary.
  8. jabber
    talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner
    In the lead was a girl I had talked to in Shageluk, who had advised me not to stand around at the checkpoints and jabber.
  9. somber
    lacking brightness or color; dull
    The sun was lost in a bank of somber clouds.
  10. derelict
    a person without a home, job, or property
    Now, when I drove down the main street, I would not be taken for a derelict. Now I felt like a racer.
  11. unravel
    become or cause to become undone by separating the fibers of
    I walked out in front with Black Star to help him find the way. Then the arrows began to unravel the dogs' boots. In an hour of travel I stopped three times to take off torn boots and tie on new ones.
  12. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    My hair was matted. My face, with all its spots and windburn, felt like a mask made of wood. Iron wood.
  13. thrash
    move or stir about violently
    The wind woke me up. It was thrashing against the house, making weird sounds in the trees.
  14. salve
    a preparation applied externally as a soothing remedy
    "The team is ready to go," Frank Gibson said. "We fed them fish snacks. Looked at their boots. Put salve on Blizzard's paw and wrapped it up."
  15. conscience
    conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
    A fresh dog would be a big help, now that I was down to seven and one of them lame. But I didn't wrestle with my conscience. To add a dog to a team anywhere on the trail was against the rules.
Created on Wed Dec 17 19:11:42 EST 2025 (updated Mon Feb 02 16:37:47 EST 2026)

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