Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library: Chapters 14–20

by Chris Grabenstein
Kyle and eleven other kids get the chance to stay overnight in Mr. Lemoncello's new, high-tech library. The children must solve a series of puzzles in order to find a way out of the library and win an amazing prize.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–13, Chapters 14–20, Chapters 21–34, Chapters 35–56
40 words 120 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. luxuriate
    enjoy to excess
    Charles Chiltington would be luxuriating all alone in Mr. Lemoncello’s private suite.
  2. stagger
    walk with great difficulty
    Kyle slipped on his jeans and sneakers and staggered out into the giant reading room.
  3. plume
    decorate with a feather
    Just then, an accordion-panel door at the far end of the room flew open, revealing the eccentric billionaire dressed in a bright purple tracksuit and a plumed pirate hat.
  4. auspicious
    indicating favorable circumstances and good luck
    “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us on this grand and auspicious day. Today I am pleased to announce the most marvelously stupendous game ever created: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library! The entire library will be the game board. Your children will be the game pieces. The winner will become famous all over the world.”
  5. stupendous
    so great in size, force, or extent as to elicit awe
    “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us on this grand and auspicious day. Today I am pleased to announce the most marvelously stupendous game ever created: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library! The entire library will be the game board. Your children will be the game pieces. The winner will become famous all over the world.”
  6. cunning
    showing inventiveness and skill
    They can only use their wits, cunning, and intelligence to decipher clues and solve riddles that will eventually lead them to the location of the library’s super secret alternate exit.
  7. stalk
    walk stiffly
    “Participation, of course, will be purely optional and voluntary,” said Mr. Lemoncello, clasping his hands behind his back and stalking around the room.
  8. personnel
    group of people willing to obey orders
    Your children will be under constant video surveillance by security personnel in the library’s control center.
  9. samurai
    Japanese warrior who was a member of the feudal aristocracy
    Should anything go wrong, we have paramedics, firefighters, and a team of former Navy SEALs—each with the heart of a samurai—standing by to swoop in and rescue your children.
  10. adjoin
    lie next to another or share a boundary
    “If any of you would like to check up on your children,” announced Dr. Zinchenko, “please join us in the adjoining room.”
  11. smarmy
    unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating
    The smarmy guy was oilier than a soggy sack of fries.
  12. traipse
    walk or tramp about
    Chiltington and the others traipsed off to have breakfast, but Kyle and Akimi stayed with the holographic librarian.
  13. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    “Really?” said Akimi, sounding extremely skeptical. “You’re sure it’s not just a bunch of junk somebody picked up for like fifty cents at a yard sale?”
  14. wolf down
    eat quickly
    “Charles Chiltington wolfed down his breakfast, then raced up here to finish the game he started last night so he can enter his name as the first high scorer.”
  15. avatar
    a new personification of a familiar idea or person
    The three of them dashed up the hall and entered the stinky room where Charles was sitting in a vibrating pedestal chair, thumbing his controller. As his avatar sloshed through a sewer pipe, the subwoofers built into his seat made every SQUISH! and SPLAT! rumble across the floor.
  16. slosh
    walk noisily through water, mud, or mire
    The three of them dashed up the hall and entered the stinky room where Charles was sitting in a vibrating pedestal chair, thumbing his controller. As his avatar sloshed through a sewer pipe, the subwoofers built into his seat made every SQUISH! and SPLAT! rumble across the floor.
  17. ornate
    marked by complexity and richness of detail
    A tile in the floor popped open and an empty goldfish bowl atop an ornate column rose up about three feet.
  18. ascot
    a tie with wide square ends
    Now he was wearing sunglasses and had a silk ascot tucked into his shirt collar.
  19. flashy
    tastelessly showy
    He looked like a flashy Hollywood movie star.
  20. primp
    dress or groom with elaborate care
    While the two girls continued primping and posing for the camera, Dr. Zinchenko came back on-screen to quickly rattle off some final words.
  21. unanimous
    in complete agreement
    “Great,” said Akimi. “I nominate you to be our captain. All in favor raise their hands.”
    Kyle and Akimi both raised their hands.
    “It’s unanimous,” said Akimi.
  22. casual
    marked by a lack of concern
    Whistling casually, Charles strolled back to the lobby.
  23. periodical
    a publication that appears at fixed intervals
    “I just happened to see your screen and I don’t think that particular periodical—”
  24. hoist
    raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help
    I’m going to float up there, hoist myself into that nook where the hologram is, reach over to the window, push it open, and stick out my hand.
  25. technically
    according to the exact meaning; according to the facts
    Technically, I will have found my way out of the library. Nothing in the rules said anything about how far outside we had to go to win.
  26. wiry
    lean but strong
    “You could fall.”
    “I don’t think so. I’m wiry, like a monkey.”
  27. improvise
    manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand
    “You should improvise a safety harness,” suggested Sierra Russell.
  28. predicament
    an unpleasant or difficult situation
    “Well, in this adventure book I read once, the hero was in a very similar predicament. So he removed the curled handset wires from several telephones, bundled them together, and made a safety rope.”
  29. adrenaline
    hormone secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress
    Serious adrenaline raced through his body as he tapped the call number for Huckleberry Finn into the hover ladder’s book locator keypad.
  30. quiver
    shake with fast, tremulous movements
    He sighed heavily and stared up at the quivering Seuss projection in the bowed niche above his head.
  31. descent
    a movement downward
    The ladder began a slow and steady descent to the floor—even though Kyle hadn’t pushed a button.
  32. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    “You should never help your competition, Keeley,” scoffed Charles as he casually strolled down a spiral staircase.
  33. sentimental
    marked by tender, romantic, or nostalgic emotion
    Losers.
    That’s what Charles Chiltington thought about sentimental saps like Kyle Keeley.
  34. sap
    a person who lacks good judgment or is easily tricked
    Losers.
    That’s what Charles Chiltington thought about sentimental saps like Kyle Keeley.
  35. damsel
    a young unmarried woman
    A damsel in distress starts screaming and he forgets all about winning the game to go rescue her?
  36. hunch
    an impression that something might be the case
    It was time to play his hunch.
  37. censor
    a person authorized to suppress unacceptable material
    In the spot where the identifier should have been, there were instead a censor’s thick black box and the words “I.D. Temporarily Removed from System.”
  38. annotation
    an added comment or instruction
    Scrolling further down the screen, Charles came across a rather unusual annotation: “You didn’t really think we’d make it that easy, did you?”
  39. flutter
    move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
    When he did, a four-by-four card fluttered out from behind its cover.
  40. silhouette
    a filled-in drawing of the outline of an object
    Printed on the card was a black-and-white silhouette.
Created on Thu Jul 26 19:24:15 EDT 2018 (updated Mon Aug 06 13:44:30 EDT 2018)

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