Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy: Chapters 8–9

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
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. calamity
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    Figuring that only a calamity would fetch the minister out this early in the morning and that a minister’s son should stand by his father at such a moment, he jumped out of bed, gathered his robe around him, and went downstairs, too.
  2. saga
    a narrative telling the adventures of a hero or a family
    The moving saga of the Tripp family continues: how they had to tie up at Bush Island after being prevented from coming into Phippsburg, how he had to row back and forth three miles to find a doctor to tend his wife, and how all of this is the fault of the good people of Phippsburg.
  3. insolence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    “The insolence of it all!” declared Mr. Stonecrop.
  4. goodwill
    a disposition to kindness and compassion
    “Well,” said Mr. Stonecrop, “had he set out to deliberately humiliate the town, he could hardly have done much worse. Good Lord, Reverend, if this town is going to survive, we need not only hotels to house tourists, we need goodwill to bring them in. And this kind of thing does not bring goodwill.”
  5. adjudicate
    bring to an end; settle conclusively
    I know things move slowly up to Augusta, but good Lord, the state declared six years ago that it would adjudicate Malaga Island.
  6. bluster
    act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner
    Mr. Stonecrop blustered out of the house, and Turner and his father watched him take the street by right of possession.
  7. brisk
    quick and energetic
    Still, the fire burned red in him, and when Turner played for Mrs. Cobb, he marched briskly through the “Battle Hymn,” then drove through “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” until it was swinging mighty low and mighty fast.
  8. smolder
    a fire that burns with thick smoke but no flame
    When she did not come on Sunday afternoon, either, the fire in him weakened to a smolder.
  9. solemnly
    in a serious and dignified manner
    She shook her head solemnly.
  10. knack
    a special way of doing something
    Lizzie told him a whole lot, even after Turner got the knack of it and could open the shell with the point of the knife, slit the muscle before the clam objected too much, and drop it into the pot along with its juice.
  11. flare
    erupt or intensify suddenly
    He felt it flaring as he went down Parker Head, and flaring again when he passed Mrs. Hurd’s empty house, and flaring when he passed First Congregational and climbed the porch steps to his house.
  12. halo
    radiant light drawn around the head of a saint
    Every tree was blessed with a halo, and the sparkling silver beams slanted down to Turner as he thought about streaking a ball right back up alongside them until it disappeared in the silver-haloed glow.
  13. crest
    reach a high point
    And Lizzie, lofting a rock to him on the beaches of Malaga and hollering at him to swing low to high, and the gulls crying and the waves cresting and the rock coming down and him feeling the tingling in his hands as he began to swing.
  14. spangled
    covered with beads or jewels or sequins
    Up above, the sky would be spangled, and he could sit side by side with Lizzie and watch the stars fall out of their places in sudden shrieks of light.
  15. stoke
    (of a fire) stir up or tend
    The lights would come on and throw their columns across from one house to another, and the coal stoves would be stoked against the coming cold of the fall night as the town settled into evening.
  16. evolutionary
    relating to the development of a species
    Turner wondered what Darwin might have said about the evolutionary advantages of being silent.
  17. hunch
    round one's back by bending forward
    Even the pine trees down to Thayer’s haymeadow put on their darker green and hunched their branches closer as the mornings came in colder and colder.
  18. prune
    weed out unwanted or unnecessary things
    And the houses, left soulless, died—windows glassless, doors hanging on single hinges, some of the clapboard already pruned.
  19. missionary
    relating to a religious operation in a foreign land
    “My grandfather got it from missionary work. Somewhere in the Galápagos Islands.”
  20. warble
    sing or play with trills
    Her silvery voice, dry with gray age, warbled a bit and missed more high notes than it hit.
  21. resolute
    firm in purpose or belief
    Turner tried to look resolute whenever she said this.
  22. frailty
    the state of being weak in health or body
    She would cough through the playing to remind them of the potential of the moment, and shake her head at the frailty of human flesh.
  23. afghan
    a blanket knitted or crocheted in strips or squares
    She did not pick up the afghan that had fallen from her knees.
  24. reverence
    a feeling of profound respect for someone or something
    “You’d think a minister’s son would know how to play a hymn with reverence. Wouldn’t you think so, girl?”
  25. opaque
    not transmitting or reflecting light or radiant energy
    Her eyes opened, closed, opened again, pale and opaque.
  26. pry
    move or force in an effort to get something open
    Lizzie grabbed a ginger ale and pried the cap off, and together they went back into the parlor.
  27. loll
    be lazy or idle
    Together they watched as the green sea lolled about, the waves hardly peaked enough to break against the rocks.
  28. bulbous
    rounded and bulging
    They watched the waves come in, so bulbous and full, as though they had all the time in the world—and more.
  29. drone
    talk in a monotonous voice
    They watched it while Lillian Woodward droned the hymns.
  30. eulogy
    a formal expression of praise for someone who has died
    They watched it while Reverend Buckminster delivered the eulogy.
  31. conniving
    good at tricking people to get something
    “Reverend, you’re more conniving than I thought.”
  32. parson
    someone authorized to conduct religious worship
    “It is a mighty poor parson who hides behind legalities, sir. Your son made his way into Mrs. Cobb’s household and so ingratiated himself that he has inherited a great deal of money that ought properly to belong to the people of this town.”
  33. ingratiate
    gain favor with somebody by deliberate efforts
    “It is a mighty poor parson who hides behind legalities, sir. Your son made his way into Mrs. Cobb’s household and so ingratiated himself that he has inherited a great deal of money that ought properly to belong to the people of this town.”
  34. gleefully
    in a joyous manner
    Turner felt the cold air deep down when he breathed it in, and the snow that fell on his lashes and into his hair stayed there, gleefully stubborn.
  35. promenade
    march in a procession
    All three Buckminsters stood on the steps of the First Congregational and watched it come down, clean, tasting of the salt air, whirling about in a joyous jig—swinging partners and do-si-doing and promenading as if it were a whitened barn dance.
  36. profound
    showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth
    “Then,” said Mrs. Buckminster, standing tall and straight, and the blood reddening her cheeks, “then the profound Mr. Stonecrop will be profoundly disappointed.”
  37. prow
    the front part of a vessel
    He might have left then and there if he hadn’t seen the Easons’ dory butting its prow against the waves as it came down the New Meadows, trying to find its place somewhere between the white water and the white air.
  38. unearthly
    suggesting the operation of supernatural influences
    Turner felt that he was hovering in some unearthly place.
  39. queasy
    causing or able to cause nausea
    With the snow and the spray from the waves wafting against the boat, they seemed to be in neither air nor water, or maybe in both, and the queasy, uneasy feeling came upon him that he didn’t know where he belonged—and wasn’t sure he could find his way.
  40. stave
    one of the slats of wood forming sides of a barrel or bucket
    He smelled woodsmoke and passed a stack of old lobster traps, blown over and the staves broken in, then a heap of firewood guarded pitifully by some old barrels, also broken.
Created on Wed Dec 20 14:52:50 EST 2017 (updated Mon Sep 24 16:08:11 EDT 2018)

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