Son: Book III

by Lois Lowry
Weaving together the stories from the last three books, this final installment in The Giver Quartet follows Claire as she attempts to find the son who was taken from her.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Book I, Book II: Chapters 1-5, Book II: Chapters 6-16, Book III

Explore other lists of The Giver Quartet here.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. homespun
    (of textiles) having a rough surface
    Gabe would catch sight of her, would see her dark homespun clothing, her stooped posture, and the fierce, knowing intimacy of her gaze.
  2. vie
    compete for something
    He and the other boys, the group he lived with, would be wrestling and joking, vying to be cleverest, or strongest, as they made their way together to or from the schoolhouse.
  3. lout
    an awkward, foolish person
    One neighbor had called them “louts” after they wrested plums from the tree beside her cottage, then squashed them in the path.
  4. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    This particular old woman, though she was often nearby, never glared at the group of boys, as others did, or chided them for their behavior.
  5. congenial
    suitable to your needs
    Boys' Lodge was a congenial group.
  6. cataclysm
    a sudden violent change in the earth's surface
    It was Deirdre's cat. Gabe tried to remember its name; he could picture Nathaniel's sister laughing when she had told it to him, but the whimsical name eluded him. Catacomb? Cataclysm?
  7. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “Gabe’s older now than I was when I brought him here,” Jonas mused.
  8. benign
    pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence
    “No. He's not in danger. At least not now. But there is a presence. It seems benign. I think...”
  9. pastime
    an interest or pursuit that someone pursues regularly
    Now they were off fishing, playing ball, indulging in all the usual summer pastimes during this brief holiday from school.
  10. wane
    become smaller
    The excitement of Gabe's project was short-lived, and their interest waned when they realized he was not just hammering together a primitive raft that they could paddle along the riverbank.
  11. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    But though the books he had borrowed from Jonas had shown boats of all kinds, from ones with billowy sails to long, narrow vessels with rows of seated men at oars, none had provided instructions for the building.
  12. haphazardly
    in a random manner
    The cedar planks were lying haphazardly about, a few of them hammered together.
  13. curator
    the custodian of a collection, as a museum or library
    He was embarrassed when the museum curator, pointing to various artifacts in the "Vehicles of Arrival” exhibit, had gestured to the battered red sled and explained that a brave boy named Jonas had battled a blizzard and fought his way here carrying a dying baby.
  14. permeate
    spread or diffuse through
    Frightened by his own feelings, he had listened mutely to the wails of grief that permeated the community.
  15. tawdry
    tastelessly showy
    For years a mysterious, sinister man known as Trademaster had appeared now and then in the village, bringing tawdry thrills and temptations but leaving chaos and discontentment behind.
  16. flounder
    have difficulties; behave awkwardly
    Seated at his desk, floundering over a math test—fractions, which he had not studied the way he should have—he glanced up at Mentor, the schoolmaster.
  17. befall
    become of; happen to
    She had no wish to explain what had befallen her.
  18. misshapen
    so badly formed or distorted as to be ugly
    She rarely found him at games, lately, though; most often he was alone in the clearing near the river, hammering away on the misshapen vessel that he called his boat.
  19. boisterous
    marked by exuberance and high spirits
    She rose to return her emptied plate, to get herself a piece of pie, and looked over to the table where the boisterous young boys were sitting together.
  20. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    In adolescence Gabe was gangly and tall, and as she watched, his elbow knocked over the mug holding his drink; the other boys chortled as he sheepishly mopped up the mess with his napkin.
  21. sheepish
    showing a sense of shame
    In adolescence Gabe was gangly and tall, and as she watched, his elbow knocked over the mug holding his drink; the other boys chorded as he sheepishly mopped up the mess with his napkin.
  22. contemporary
    a person of nearly the same age as another
    Although Jonas had no awareness of who she had once been, that once she and he had been contemporaries in the same community, Claire remembered Jonas as a boy.
  23. torturous
    extremely painful or unpleasant
    She described the torturous climb up the cliff at length, feeling the need to relive it inch by inch as Einar had told her he had, remembering each handhold, each precipice and narrow ledge.
  24. precipice
    a very steep cliff
    She described the torturous climb up the cliff at length, feeling the need to relive it inch by inch as Einar had told her he had, remembering each handhold, each precipice and narrow ledge.
  25. malignant
    dangerous to health
    “I felt something out there, something related to Gabe, but I didn't realize what it was. I think I was feeling your presence,” he mused, “and that was puzzling, but benign. But there is something else. Something malignant. It must be him.”
  26. convoluted
    highly complex or intricate
    “It was a kind of ritualized thing. Every now and then this man appeared in the village—he always wore strange clothes, and talked in an odd, convoluted way. He was called Trademaster. He got up on the stage and called people forward one by one. Then he invited them to make trades.”
  27. fitful
    intermittently stopping and starting
    He had slept fitfully on the couch until finally, nudged awake by the household noises, he yawned and opened his eyes.
  28. somberly
    in a serious and solemn manner
    Several aged women stood somberly outside, murmuring to one another.
  29. sardonic
    disdainfully or ironically humorous
    Mentor laughed, but it was a sardonic laugh.
  30. bludgeon
    a club used as a weapon
    He could use the paddle as if it were a spear or a bludgeon.
  31. buoyant
    tending to float on a liquid or rise in air or gas
    He held the buoyant paddle in both hands, crosswise in front of him.
  32. maelstrom
    a powerful circular current of water
    He must pull the paddle free from the rocks now and force himself into that maelstrom.
  33. tenacity
    persistent determination
    And it might have been simply this: the tenacity of the boy, the stubbornness.
  34. stiletto
    a small dagger with a tapered blade
    “You don't have one of these tucked away someplace? It would serve you well. Quite sharp. Quite deadly.
    “Here!” he said suddenly, and tossed the stiletto to Gabe.
  35. pliant
    capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking
    Now, startlingly, the old woman’s hand felt different. Smoother. More pliant.
  36. infuse
    fill, as with a certain quality
    The sweet cedar of the paddle was infused with all of them: the ones who cared about him, the ones who at this moment were sending strength to him.
  37. malevolence
    wishing evil to others
    He understood Trademaster, and the deep malevolence that inhabited him.
  38. grope
    feel about uncertainly or blindly
    His eyes were closed, but he groped in the dark for the weapons that had been discarded on the ground.
  39. vanquish
    defeat in a competition, race, or conflict
    He planted his paddle there and banked the damp earth around it so that it stood and marked the place where Evil had been vanquished.
  40. resilience
    an occurrence of rebounding or springing back
    For a moment he had simply watched Claire sleep, marveling at her resilience.
Created on Tue Apr 03 14:51:12 EDT 2018 (updated Tue May 31 12:44:25 EDT 2022)

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