Skellig: Chapters 1–10

by David Almond
Michael's world is in flux: he's just moved into a new house, and his baby sister is suffering from a terrible illness. When he discovers a mysterious creature named Skellig near death in his garage, things only get stranger.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–22, Chapters 23–34, Chapters 35–46
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. filthy
    disgustingly dirty
    He was filthy and pale and dried out and I thought he was dead.
  2. demolition
    the act of destroying completely
    It was more like a demolition site or a rubbish dump or like one of those ancient warehouses they keep pulling down at the wharf.
  3. manage
    handle effectively
    I just wanted him to shut up, but he whispered that toward the end Ernie couldn’t manage the stairs.
  4. massive
    containing a great quantity of matter
    The outside doors to the back lane must have fallen off years ago and there were dozens of massive planks nailed across the entrance.
  5. rubbish
    worthless material that is to be disposed of
    The people that took the rubbish out of the house were supposed to take it out of the garage as well, but they took one look at the place and said they wouldn’t go in it even for extra money.
  6. scatter
    strew or distribute over an area
    Heaps of water pipes and great boxes of rusty nails were scattered on the floor.
  7. arid
    lacking sufficient water or rainfall
    The place stank of rot and arid dust
  8. collapse
    fall apart
    It was like the whole thing was sick of itself and would collapse in a heap and have to get bull-dozed away.
  9. lurch
    move abruptly
    I shoved the door and it lurched half shut on its single hinge.
  10. random
    lacking any definite plan or order or purpose
    I thought of Random Road where we’d come from, and all my old pals like Leakey and Coot
  11. peer
    look searchingly
    I peered down into a great stone jar and saw the bones of some little animal that had died in there.
  12. shudder
    shake, as from cold
    He thumped the side of the garage and the whole thing shuddered.
  13. ragged
    having an irregular outline
    Every time I did drop off I saw him coming out of the garage door and coming through the ragged backyard to the house.
  14. bother
    take the trouble to do something; concern oneself
    I couldn’t be bothered with it all.
  15. fossil
    the remains of a plant or animal from a past geological age
    “Been there so long it’s nearly a fossil,” he said.
  16. fuss
    an excited state of agitation
    She tried to make a fuss over me and kept asking me about the journey and about school.
  17. famished
    extremely hungry
    “I’m famished,” he said.
  18. sufficiency
    an adequate quantity
    I’ve had an ample sufficiency, thank you.
  19. arrange
    plan, organize, and carry out
    I’d also like to see your baby sister if that can be arranged.
  20. sheen
    the visual property of something that shines
    I saw the sheens of gold and blue where the early light shined on its black.
  21. stunt
    check the growth or development of
    His fingers were twisted and stunted.
  22. slump
    fall or sink heavily
    His head slumped back against the wall.
  23. congealed
    congealed into jelly; solidified by cooling
    The red sauce below his lips was like congealed blood.
  24. aside
    on or to one side
    I had to push aside a little heap of hard furry balls.
  25. stench
    a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
    Not just the Chinese food, but the stench of the other dead things he ate: the bluebottles, the spiders.
Created on Thu Nov 14 19:49:02 EST 2013 (updated Tue Aug 07 15:45:21 EDT 2018)

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