Wishtree: Chapters 10–18

by Katherine Applegate
The narrator of this novel is Red, an oak tree on which people hang their wishes every year. When Samar, a new girl in the neighborhood, faces bullying and intolerance, Red attempts to rally the local animals and intervene.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–9, Chapters 10–18, Chapters 19–30, Chapters 31–42, Chapters 43–51

Here are links to our lists for other works by Katherine Applegate: Home of the Brave, Crenshaw, The One and Only Ivan
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bough
    any of the larger branches of a tree
    Beneath my boughs vows have been made, hearts mended.
  2. ascent
    a movement upward
    I’ve watched ascents attempted, listened to stories spun.
  3. hack
    chop or cut away
    I have, for example, been hacked at, carved into, used for target practice.
  4. infestation
    the state of being invaded or overrun by parasites
    Last year I had a mite infestation that drove me nuts.
  5. scorch
    a plant disease that produces a browning of plant tissues
    Leaf blister, sooty mold, oak wilt, leaf scorch: Been there, done that.
  6. linger
    be about
    Down the street, a lanky boy was lingering near a stop sign.
  7. sapling
    young tree
    “Another sproutday,” I said. “I still feel like a sapling.”
  8. perch
    sit, as on a branch
    Bongo, who was perched on my lowest branch, sighed.
  9. lustrous
    reflecting light
    Bongo stretched, admiring her lustrous blue-black wings.
  10. stature
    the height of a standing person
    “Maybe you’d appreciate my joke more if you weren’t so sensitive about your stature,” I teased.
  11. cunning
    crafty artfulness, especially in deception
    “Corvids don’t give a flying tail feather about height,” Bongo said. “Smarts. Wiles. Trickery. Cunning. That’s what counts in our neck of the woods.”
  12. magpie
    long-tailed black-and-white crow that utters a raucous call
    “Corvids” is a fancy name for birds like crows, ravens, jays, and magpies.
  13. acknowledgment
    a statement admitting the existence of something or someone
    Their eyes met. Stephen nodded—just a flicker—and Samar nodded back. Not a hello, exactly. Just an acknowledgment.
  14. hoarse
    deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness
    With that, Bongo let loose a hoarse and gleeful caw, and set off to wait for children to arrive at school.
  15. rambling
    spreading out in different directions
    Watching Bongo soar, I considered, not for the first time, my rambling roots.
  16. sheer
    complete and without restriction
    What would it be like to fly? To burrow? To swim? To gallop?
    Delightful, no doubt. Sheer joy. And yet. I wouldn’t trade a single rootlet for any of it.
  17. lanky
    tall and thin and having long slender limbs
    By this time, the lanky boy had walked past me, swiveled, and returned.
  18. impression
    a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
    People are under the impression that trees don’t mind being carved into, especially if hearts are involved.
  19. endure
    continue to live through hardship or adversity
    Trees are meant to listen, to observe, to endure.
  20. philosophize
    reason or theorize about important and difficult issues
    Bongo hates it when I philosophize.
  21. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    “Mommy, what does that say?” asked her little girl, who was clutching a stuffed toy dog by its bedraggled tail.
  22. prim
    exaggeratedly proper
    For well over a century I’d stared at them. Prim and proper.
  23. squat
    short and thick
    Same small size, same boxy shape, same pitched roofs and squat brick chimneys.
  24. glimmer
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    Long before they were a glimmer in some builder’s eye, I was here, right in the middle of things.
  25. unruly
    unable to be governed or controlled
    If my roots stretched past the property line that separated them, well, that’s never been my concern. Roots can be unruly.
  26. pirouette
    rapidly spin the body, usually as part of a dance
    Mine explored the earth below both houses, pirouetted around their plumbing, anchored their foundations.
  27. eavesdrop
    listen without the speaker's knowledge
    As all this unfolded, busybody that I am, I kept tabs, eavesdropped, observed.
  28. impartial
    free from undue bias or preconceived opinions
    Trees are impartial observers. We are the strong and silent type.
  29. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    People stopped to stare. They gathered in little groups. They grimaced and shook their heads and murmured.
  30. calico
    having patches colored differently and usually brightly
    A pair of calico kittens reside across the street.
  31. technically
    according to the exact meaning; according to the facts
    The owner of the houses—and, therefore, technically, of me—was the one who’d called the police.
  32. intrepid
    invulnerable to fear or intimidation
    Francesca was also the owner of Lewis and Clark, my intrepid visitors.
  33. sentimental
    marked by tender, romantic, or nostalgic emotion
    Francesca has never been the sentimental sort. She likes cats more than trees.
  34. prosecute
    conduct legal proceedings against a defendant
    “One problem, in terms of prosecuting anyone,” he said, “is the history of this tree. It’s almost May when people leave their...wishes or whatever. Hard to say for sure this isn’t part of the whole, you know, tradition thing.”
  35. lore
    knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote
    “You know,” Francesca said, taking Lewis from Sandy, “my father almost cut this tree down years ago. My mother wasn’t having it. Family lore or some such thing. Soft-hearted nonsense.”
  36. occupational
    relating to an activity or job for which you are trained
    I felt bad about the walkways. It’s an occupational hazard.
  37. vast
    unusually great in size or amount or extent or scope
    To stay alive, I need a vast network of roots. And roots can be surprisingly strong.
  38. antic
    a playful, attention-getting act done for fun and amusement
    Bongo calls every fresh crop of babies “newbies.” She pretends to be annoyed by their antics, but I know better.
  39. crepuscular
    like or relating to twilight; dim
    “Hush,” their mother, FreshBakedBread, scolded. “It’s the middle of the day. You’re supposed to be asleep. You’re crepuscular.”
    Crepuscular creatures, like fireflies, bats, and deer, are especially active at dusk and dawn.
  40. offspring
    the immediate descendants of a person or organism
    As for me, I spent the evening hours reassuring the parents and offspring who called me their home.
Created on Mon Jun 25 11:00:34 EDT 2018 (updated Thu Sep 06 14:51:47 EDT 2018)

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