Stella by Starlight: Chapters 31–40

by Sharon M. Draper
In this historical novel, a young girl confronts prejudice and injustice in her segregated North Carolina town.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–20, Chapters 21–30, Chapters 31–40, Chapters 41–50

Here are links to lists for other books by Sharon M. Draper: Out of My Mind, Copper Sun, Tears of a Tiger, Forged by Fire, Blended
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. buggy
    a small lightweight carriage
    I wonder if cars automobiles will ever replace horses and buggies.
  2. trickle
    run or flow slowly, as in drops or in an unsteady stream
    All week the donations trickled in for the Spencer family, coming from the Riverside Road folks, as well as from the larger community.
  3. assorted
    of many kinds purposefully arranged but lacking uniformity
    Stella eased herself up to the table, her eyes growing wide and wider still as Mrs. Spencer pulled out one, two, three, four dresses, looking to be just Stella’s size, and two pairs of leather shoes, along with assorted trousers and shirts for Jojo.
  4. beaming
    pleased and proud
    When her mother, beaming, nodded, Stella slid the black pair with the dark laces on her feet.
  5. dabble
    work with in an amateurish manner
    But we have no need and no room for such a thing, and, well, you helped Hazel with her story, so I thought perhaps you liked to dabble in writin’. I hope you can make good use of it.
  6. contestant
    a person who participates in competitions
    “Our high school contestant will be Helen Spencer, who wrote a clever story called ‘Bucky and the Beaver.’”
  7. glum
    moody and sorrowful
    Stella’s arms felt as if she'd been toting watermelons all day—everything about her felt heavy and slow and glum.
  8. utterly
    completely and without qualification
    Seemingly utterly unconcerned that his essay hadn’t been chosen, Tony asked, “So when do we find out who won?”
  9. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    “The winners will be announced just before Thanksgiving,” Mrs. Grayson told them all.
    “What’s the prize again?” Carolyn asked with a tentative smile.
  10. slather
    spread thickly
    Stella closed her eyes, thinking of the rich chocolate icing her mother whipped up and slathered on a warm layer cake.
  11. heritage
    practices that are handed down from the past by tradition
    You know, children, quilts, like stories, are part of our heritage, part of our culture. Some quilts even tell stories.
  12. ancestor
    someone from whom you are descended
    Men taught their sons the secrets of flying, and women taught their daughters, so the knowledge was passed from ancestor to descendant.
  13. bondage
    the state of being under the control of another person
    And because of their bondage, the connection between parent and child, between elder and newborn was destroyed.
  14. hoe
    dig with a tool with a flat blade
    The people had to work from sunup to sundown. They had to pick, cut, plant, carry, cook, clean, wash, rake, hoe, dig, clear, build, and more.
  15. plantation
    an estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale
    Now it came to pass that a young woman was living on one plantation, a woman of strength, a woman with dreams.
  16. flutter
    flap the wings rapidly or fly with flapping movements
    She was flying! She fluttered and floated and hugged the clouds she had named, and flung them toward the sun.
  17. brisk
    imparting vitality and energy
    Tuesday, November 8, was brisk and cold. Stella’s fingertips stung as she washed up quickly and dashed back inside to the warmth of Mama’s fireplace.
  18. frigid
    extremely cold
    When her father burst back into the house in a rush of frigid air, Stella’s mother jumped up.
  19. undertaker
    one whose business is the management of funerals
    “Humph,” his wife said, reaching for the broom. She began swiping it roughly across the floor. The spotless floor, Stella noticed. “Tell that to the undertaker!”
  20. wallop
    a severe blow
    Her mama gave the floor another wallop. “And who will stand for me and the children, for the rest of the mothers and babies of Bumblebee, when we are all alone?” Stella couldn’t remember ever seeing her mother so angry.
  21. convene
    meet formally
    It seemed every single colored man, woman, and child in town was walking up the road and convening in her front yard.
  22. bellow
    shout loudly and without restraint
    Johnsteve was among them, bellowing, “Come on out, y’all! It’s votin’ day!”
  23. cardigan
    a knitted sweater that can be fastened up the front
    “Can I go too, Mama?” Stella asked, grabbing a cardigan sweater.
  24. loom
    come into view indistinctly, often threateningly
    When she turned back, she saw the polling location, which in Bumblebee was the sheriff’s office, looming ahead.
  25. lanky
    tall and thin and having long slender limbs
    The sheriff, a lanky, red-faced man named Amos Sizemore, stood in front of the door, arms folded across his chest.
  26. landslide
    an overwhelming electoral victory
    Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the new prsident. he won in a landslide. Landslide makes me think of rooks and dirt falling down a mountain. Not sure what that has to do with an election.
  27. beeline
    the most direct route
    Her jumbled thoughts skittered like the marbles Jojo liked to play with as she made a beeline for town.
  28. ailment
    an often persistent bodily disorder or disease
    “Your daddy—why, he’s cured all sorts of ailments and problems in people around here! Remember when Randy Bates got the pneumonia? His mama thought he was gonna die.”
  29. flourish
    a showy gesture
    He pulled off a handful of gold and brown leaves and handed them to Stella with a flourish.
  30. bolt
    a roll of cloth or wallpaper of a definite length
    Shelves of goods—buttons, handsaws, sugar, rifles, bullets, scissors, pencils, bolts of cotton cloth, medicine, toys, in no particular order—lined the walls.
  31. raspy
    unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
    “What you doin’, gal?” a raspy voice said behind her.
  32. wan
    lacking vitality as from weariness or illness or unhappiness
    Johnny Ray Johnson gave Tony a wan smile, then without warning, swung his arm back and punched Tony directly in the stomach. Stella screamed.
  33. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    Stella looked around frantically for a friendly face.
  34. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    Papa had gone on to church, and she relished the alone time with her mother.
  35. salve
    a preparation applied externally as a soothing remedy
    “All the salve in the world can’t cure what gets broken in somebody’s soul.”
  36. cardinal
    crested North American songbird having bright red plumage
    A cardinal, with a fluffing of wings, emerged from a nearby elm tree.
  37. prehistoric
    belonging to or existing before recorded times
    A half-dozen flat brown bugs— prehistoric looking—went flying.
  38. fortnight
    a period of fourteen consecutive days
    “Mind you don’t squash any,” Mama warned. “You’ll be washing your hands for a fortnight!”
  39. lob
    propel in a high arc
    Stella plucked one of the dark-purple berries from the basket and lobbed it into her mouth.
  40. dubiously
    in a doubtful manner
    “We gonna put elderberries in it?” Stella asked dubiously.
    “No. Those need to dry first. I’ll be using those this winter.”
Created on Fri Dec 15 09:45:49 EST 2017 (updated Thu Apr 04 09:33:05 EDT 2019)

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