Under a Painted Sky: Chapters 1–6

by Stacey Lee
When 15-year-old Samantha, a Chinese-American girl living in Missouri in the mid-19th-century, finds herself on the wrong side of the law, she and her best friend embark on a journey westward, following the Oregon Trail.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–13, Chapters 14–21, Chapters 22–32, Chapters 33–43
40 words 544 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. calico
    coarse cloth with a bright print
    He put the shell down on the cutting table, then unfolded a bolt of calico.
  2. clamor
    make loud demands
    Our store, the Whistle, was already open but no one was clamoring for dry goods just yet.
  3. robust
    marked by richness and fullness of flavor
    The smell of smoke was especially robust tonight. Maybe the smokehouse had burned the meats again.
  4. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    I trotted beside him as he carried the buckets to another man who threw them onto the smoldering ruins.
  5. unyielding
    resistant to physical force or pressure
    Smoke engulfed me, thick and unyielding, but the awful truth rooted me to the spot: after I’d given my last lesson of the day, I’d dawdled along the banks of the dirty Missouri, throwing stones instead of coming home directly.
  6. jowl
    a looseness of the flesh of the lower cheek and jaw
    “My best building, too,” he said in his rapid speech that caused his jowls to shake.
  7. undertow
    a current that flows away from the shore after waves break
    I pressed my violin case into my gut and stared at the river. The shimmering surface beckoned to me. I could be with Father, instead of in this unjust world, which never threw us more than a cold glance. With the strong undertow, death would be quick.
  8. sorrel
    a horse of a brownish orange to light brown color
    “Look sharp!” yelled a young man from atop a horse. I covered my head with my arms. His sorrel stamped its print just inches from my head.
  9. contemptuous
    expressing extreme scorn
    She raked a contemptuous eye across my face and down to my worn boots.
  10. opulence
    wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living
    Room 2A was grander than I thought could exist in St. Joe, with a slipper tub set at the foot of a feather bed. But the opulence sat like raw chicory on my tongue.
  11. pittance
    an inadequate payment
    “You got no choice. No money, nobody to look after you. You think the pittance you earn from those violin lessons will keep you? This way, the only thing you’d have to lift is your, well...”
  12. appraise
    consider in a comprehensive way
    She appraises my trembling self.
  13. unseemly
    not in keeping with accepted standards of what is proper
    Yorkshire spared no expense in his unseemly operation.
  14. conscript
    enroll into service compulsorily
    I shudder at the thought of being conscripted into Yorkshire’s stable, an employment that would be worse than death.
  15. eyelet
    small hole in cloth or leather for passage of a cord or hook
    Even on its tightest setting, Yorkshire’s belt drops off my hips. It needs another hole. I set it on the floor, then position the prong of the belt a few inches past the last eyelet.
  16. pious
    having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity
    “Thank you, Lord,” I whisper piously.
  17. sconce
    a decorative wall bracket for holding candles or lights
    Shadows thrown by sconces along the burgundy walls give the illusion that the hallway’s on fire.
  18. wanton
    indulgent in immoral or improper behavior
    Annamae slips into a wool frock coat, while I cram my hair into the plainest hat I can find, appalled at the ease with which I’ve gone from law-abiding citizen to wanton criminal.
  19. ungainly
    lacking grace in movement or posture
    My breath comes in gulps, and I collapse into an ungainly heap on the ground.
  20. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
    Our ruse seems to work.
  21. stave off
    prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening
    The wait to get to the other side seems to go on for days, years. I count watermelons in my head—Father taught me this trick to stave off the imps of tedium that drive one mad.
  22. tedium
    the feeling of being bored by something
    The wait to get to the other side seems to go on for days, years. I count watermelons in my head—Father taught me this trick to stave off the imps of tedium that drive one mad.
  23. stifle
    smother or suppress
    I peer through the gap between the wagon’s bonnet and the sideboards, and stifle a gasp.
  24. verdant
    characterized by abundance of vegetation and green foliage
    In five tiptoes, we cover the distance to the shaggy green haystack. Its verdant curtain swallows us up.
  25. disingenuous
    not straightforward or candid
    “I mean, sometimes I wonder why God would grant a favor if trouble’s just waiting around the corner? It feels disingenuous. If it’s fate, then it’s written in the stars, and we can’t do much to avoid it.”
  26. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    Though Father’s knowledge of Chinese beliefs was limited—he was brought to the states when he was only thirteen—he was just as adamant about passing them on to me as his Christian ideology, which he got from Pépère, my French grandfather.
  27. ideology
    an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group
    Though Father’s knowledge of Chinese beliefs was limited—he was brought to the states when he was only thirteen—he was just as adamant about passing them on to me as his Christian ideology, which he got from Pépère, my French grandfather.
  28. inconsistency
    the relation between propositions that cannot both be true
    If they were important to Father, they were important to me, too, despite their inconsistencies.
  29. canteen
    a flask for carrying water; used by soldiers or travelers
    Annamae offers me a canteen from her saddlebag, which I gratefully accept, though I refuse half a leftover sandwich.
  30. trough
    a container from which cattle or horses feed
    “I tried to drown myself in the horse trough after that, but kept bobbing back up.”
  31. bauble
    cheap showy jewelry or ornament
    My eye catches on a piece of twine around her wrist with a single bauble—a brown rock with a hole in it.
  32. cinch
    pull, fasten, or tie something tightly
    When I’m grubby enough to satisfy her, she pulls my hat low over my eyes and cinches the cord.
  33. gait
    a person's manner of walking
    I spend the next few hours perfecting my gait, and by the time I lose my shadow, it almost feels natural.
  34. notorious
    known widely and usually unfavorably
    Or maybe it’s just my small spleen talking. People with small spleens are notoriously cowardly.
  35. secular
    not concerned with or devoted to religion
    “Don’t know those. You know ‘Chains of Mis’ry’? ‘Moses Split the Tide’?”
    “No.”
    She scratches her neck and her forehead crimps. I’m about to suggest we might have better luck with a secular tune when Annamae stops suddenly and puts her arm in front of me.
  36. mimicry
    imitative behavior
    The snake accelerates its thumping in its best mimicry of a rattlesnake.
  37. lichen
    a plant occurring in crusty patches on tree trunks or rocks
    I point to a craggy wall of sandstone smeared with lichen rising fifty yards beyond the juniper.
  38. entrails
    internal organs collectively
    After witnessing Annamae butcher the snake and rub it with salt from her saddlebag, I doubt I will ever eat again. But once the meat starts popping on the fire with the greens, my hunger pangs return. If I’m going to survive the prairie long enough to find Mr. Trask, I must get used to blood and entrails.
  39. implore
    beg or request earnestly and urgently
    Ride on, I implore them with my mind.
  40. synchronicity
    the relation that exists when things occur at the same time
    The men loop around us, their horses stepping in perfect synchronicity with their heads held high.
Created on Wed Jun 03 15:40:51 EDT 2020 (updated Mon Jun 08 16:35:55 EDT 2020)

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