Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy: Chapters 1–2

by Gary D. Schmidt
In this historical novel, Turner Buckminster confronts racism when town elders expel an African American community, including Turner's friend Lizzie, from their island home.

Here are links to our lists for the novel:Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–5, Chapters 6–7, Chapters 8–9, Chapters 10–12

Here are links to our lists for other works by Gary D. Schmidt: Orbiting Jupiter, The Wednesday Wars
45 words 225 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. resin
    a viscous substance obtained from plants or simple molecules
    He had smelled the sharp resin of the pines.
  2. reprobate
    a person without moral scruples
    Every member of Phippsburg’s First Congregational—as well as lost reprobates from other denominations—had gathered to greet the new minister and his family.
  3. denomination
    a group of religious congregations with its own organization
    Every member of Phippsburg’s First Congregational—as well as lost reprobates from other denominations—had gathered to greet the new minister and his family.
  4. wharf
    a platform from the shore that provides access to ships
    A quartet of slick trombones played a Sousa march as the steamer Kennebec came in sight of the wharf.
  5. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    A red, white, and blue welcome banner unfurled at the end of the dock: Welcome Pastor Buckminster!
  6. lapel
    a fold of fabric below the collar of a coat or jacket
    The church deacons stood properly at the foot of the gangway, their hands grasping the lapels of their dark suits, their hats lifting in unison as soon as Mrs. Buckminster appeared on deck.
  7. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    But Turner saw that the pines sidled awful close to the left-field line, and he could spin a ball to make it touch in fair, then scoot off into the trees.
  8. loft
    propel through the air
    Willis held the ball a long while, still smiling, then slowly leaned forward, swung his arm down low, and lofted the ball into a high arc.
  9. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    And when the ball meandered down from about a mile above his head, he flailed at it as if it were a bumblebee.
  10. flail
    thrash about
    And when the ball meandered down from about a mile above his head, he flailed at it as if it were a bumblebee.
  11. congregation
    group that habitually attends a particular place of worship
    That first night, while the congregation sat around the haymeadow eating the ice cream Mr. Newton and Mrs. Newton and all the little Newtons had brought up from their grocery store, he heard about it from the Ladies’ Sewing Circle: “Turner, don’t you think you need a lighter bat? That one is so heavy for a boy your size.”
  12. dignitary
    an important or influential person
    That afternoon, the dignitaries of Phippsburg arrived to conduct Reverend Buckminster around his new parish, and the sons of those dignitaries arrived to conduct Turner to “the best spot to swim in the whole state” according to Willis.
  13. parish
    a local church community
    That afternoon, the dignitaries of Phippsburg arrived to conduct Reverend Buckminster around his new parish, and the sons of those dignitaries arrived to conduct Turner to “the best spot to swim in the whole state” according to Willis.
  14. stifle
    smother or suppress
    He walked behind the other boys, and tried not to hear the stifled laughs, tried not to see the flailing swings.
  15. gild
    decorate with, or as if with, gold leaf or liquid gold
    The sun gilded the spray that fell around him
  16. writhing
    moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
    But Turner was standing forty feet above the writhing sea, waiting for a swell big enough to keep him from splattering on the rocks and hoping he wouldn’t throw up before he went under.
  17. swell
    a rising and falling movement of the surface of the sea
    But Turner was standing forty feet above the writhing sea, waiting for a swell big enough to keep him from splattering on the rocks and hoping he wouldn’t throw up before he went under.
  18. surge
    a large sea wave
    And then he saw the sea surge that was coming in.
  19. wallow
    roll around
    The surge moved like a wallowing mountain range, roiling to a whiteness at its peaks.
  20. roil
    make turbid by stirring up the sediments of
    The surge moved like a wallowing mountain range, roiling to a whiteness at its peaks.
  21. lichen
    a plant occurring in crusty patches on tree trunks or rocks
    Around him soft bright moss curled up the yellow birches, lichens roughened the rocks, and crushed needles let go their piney scent.
  22. pirouette
    rapidly spin the body, usually as part of a dance
    Ahead of him, the sky pirouetted on First Congregational’s sunlit steeple.
  23. steeple
    a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building
    Ahead of him, the sky pirouetted on First Congregational’s sunlit steeple.
  24. tribulation
    an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event
    “Then put your shirt on so you don’t walk down the main street of Phippsburg like that, in front of God and everyone. And find something to do fitting for a minister’s son, instead of being a trial and a tribulation to an old woman. Standing in the middle of the road, throwing stones.”
  25. wispy
    thin and weak
    “She’s more thunder than lightning. I’m more...a cloud. A wispy one. Mrs. Elia Hurd, mother of the present deacon.”
  26. reprieve
    the act of postponing or remitting punishment
    Since he was smiling, Turner figured he had—who knows how—missed the thunderous Mrs. Cobb, and that God had given him at least a brief reprieve—which he deserved after the last two days, not to mention the Sears, Roebuck catalogue.
  27. seethe
    foam as if boiling
    When it had finished its fussing, it seethed back down the New Meadows River, sluicing between the mainland and the islands.
  28. sluice
    pour as if from a conduit that carries a rapid flow of water
    When it had finished its fussing, it seethed back down the New Meadows River, sluicing between the mainland and the islands.
  29. kindling
    material for starting a fire
    She turned and scrambled up the outcroppings, picking up the hatchet that was to have been splitting kindling all this time.
  30. dory
    a small flat-bottomed fishing boat
    The day might come, she thought, when she would take her grandfather’s dory and row to the mouth of the New Meadows.
  31. hovel
    small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    “Reverend Buckminster, behold the cross we bear in Phippsburg: a ragtag collection of hovels and shacks, filled with thieves and lazy sots, eking out a life by eating clams from the ocean mud, heedless of offers of help from either state or church, a blight on the town’s aspirations, a hopeless barrier to its future.”
  32. sot
    a chronic drinker
    “Reverend Buckminster, behold the cross we bear in Phippsburg: a ragtag collection of hovels and shacks, filled with thieves and lazy sots, eking out a life by eating clams from the ocean mud, heedless of offers of help from either state or church, a blight on the town’s aspirations, a hopeless barrier to its future.”
  33. blight
    a state or condition being devastated or run-down
    “Reverend Buckminster, behold the cross we bear in Phippsburg: a ragtag collection of hovels and shacks, filled with thieves and lazy sots, eking out a life by eating clams from the ocean mud, heedless of offers of help from either state or church, a blight on the town’s aspirations, a hopeless barrier to its future.”
  34. portico
    porch or entrance to a building consisting of a covered area
    “Imagine the white porticoes of the place, the gracious stairway, the glass doors open to bring in the sea breeze, the' red carpet of the lobby, the tinkling of the glass chandelier. I tell you, Reverend, a resort here would be the salvation of Phippsburg.”
  35. pauper
    a person who is very poor
    “Still,” said Deacon Hurd, grasping Reverend Buckminster’s elbow, “if the governor takes them off the island, he’ll add every blessed one onto Phippsburg’s pauper rolls. Before we know it, the town will be paying for them to live somewhere else, and paying a proper penny year in, year out. Phippsburg couldn’t afford it—and not a single soul will stand for it.”
  36. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    Beneath the granite ledges, Turner found two gnarled pines that begged to be shinnied up, a cave that would just about die to be explored, and mudflats where herons longed to be chased.
  37. amends
    something done or paid to make up for a wrong
    His father’s face was red, and Turner knew that supper would be very quiet that night, and that sometime later he would hear about his sins, repent sincerely, and learn what he should do to make amends.
  38. daft
    foolish or mentally irregular
    “She’s daft as a loon. Will say anything to anyone—not that it will make much sense.”
  39. necromancy
    conjuring up the dead, especially for prophesying
    Mrs. Cobb strode on in front of him, passing a stairway that rose up too steeply, and then a library hoarding shelves of dark volumes—the arts of necromancy, Turner figured.
  40. threadbare
    thin and tattered with age
    An organ with yellow ivory keys and threadbare pedals leaned back in the shadows beside a black leather chair whose horsehair stuffing cantered out from every crack.
  41. canter
    go at a smooth three-beat gait, of horses
    An organ with yellow ivory keys and threadbare pedals leaned back in the shadows beside a black leather chair whose horsehair stuffing cantered out from every crack.
  42. uproarious
    marked by boisterous merriment or convulsive laughter
    So he opened the door—and stared beyond the picket gate at Willis Hurd and his friends, who all broke into sudden and uproarious laughter—all except Willis, who was smiling his chicken-killing smile.
  43. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    But Turner didn’t want them to leave with him sprawled in the road.
  44. bile
    a digestive juice secreted by the liver
    Taking off his shirt, he pulled at the pump again and put his head under it, spitting out the bile in his mouth.
  45. ebb
    flow back or recede
    Before they turned, Lizzie felt her grandfather ebb as though his soul were passing out of him, the way the last waves of a falling tide pass into still air and are gone.
Created on Wed Dec 20 14:28:44 EST 2017 (updated Mon Sep 24 16:07:27 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.