Abner and Me: Chapters 11–14

by Dan Gutman
Young Stosh has time-traveled before…but this time he and his mom find themselves in the midst of the Battle of Gettysburg, searching for Abner Doubleday—a Civil War general. Stosh wants to find out for certain if Doubleday invented the game of baseball.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapter 10, Chapters 11–14, Chapters 15–19
15 words 10 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. render
    give or supply
    “I wished to meet the lady personally and issue my sincerest gratitude for the service she has rendered to our noble cause.”
  2. balderdash
    trivial nonsense
    “Poppycock!” the general said, climbing back on his horse. “Me, invent baseball? That’s balderdash! Blather! Twaddle! Flapdoodle!”
  3. blather
    foolish gibberish
    “Poppycock!” the general said, climbing back on his horse. “Me, invent baseball? That’s balderdash! Blather! Twaddle! Flapdoodle!”
  4. twaddle
    pretentious or silly talk or writing
    “Poppycock!” the general said, climbing back on his horse. “Me, invent baseball? That’s balderdash! Blather! Twaddle! Flapdoodle!”
  5. implement
    a piece of equipment or a tool used for a specific purpose
    “Pennsylvania, eh?” he said, looking at me and Mom curiously. “I was not aware of such odd customs and implements here in Pennsylvania.”
  6. cope
    come to terms with
    I guess everybody copes with stressful situations in different ways.
  7. straggle
    go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way
    A few minutes later they straggled back out of the woods.
  8. sheepishly
    in a manner showing embarrassment or shame
    “High,” I said sheepishly. I’ve always been a high ball hitter.
  9. stance
    standing posture
    But Doubleday didn’t even look like he knew how to hold the bat. It was the worst stance I had ever seen.
  10. artillery
    large but transportable armament
    I couldn’t imagine that anyone was aiming for this empty field. Why waste the ammunition? Probably the Confederates were trying to hit Cemetery Ridge, but their artillery overshot the mark.
  11. authentic
    not counterfeit or copied
    My dad would be mad that I hadn’t brought back an authentic Abner Doubleday–signed baseball, but I had done the best I could.
  12. obscure
    make unclear or less visible
    There were no city lights to obscure the view of the stars.
  13. fife
    a small high-pitched flute similar to a piccolo
    Out beyond the trees, I could hear music very faintly. There were bugles and fifes and harmonicas playing, but mostly it was just men singing.
  14. intimidate
    make timid or fearful
    Their biggest guy was coming up to the plate, holding that huge bat he swings around like a toothpick just to intimidate pitchers.
  15. backfire
    emit a loud noise as a result of an explosion of fuel
    “I noticed that you jumped a little with every crack of the bat too,” he said. “And when that car backfired back on Whitherspoon Street, you just about jumped through my sunroof.”
Created on Mon Feb 09 20:22:23 EST 2026 (updated Fri Jun 12 15:59:13 EDT 2026)

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