A Kind of Spark: Chapters 10–14

by Elle McNicoll
After hearing a story about women in her Scottish village being tried as witches during the 16th century, eleven-year-old Addie starts to draw parallels between history and her own present-day experiences of being bullied for autism.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapters 10–14, Chapters 15–21
35 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. waver
    be unsure or weak
    Once I’m inside the building, my confidence wavers a little.
  2. titter
    a nervous restrained laugh
    She steers me out of the room while some of the students snicker. She shuts the door on their titters and grabs my shoulders.
  3. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    Keedie suddenly grimaces as if she’s in incredible pain.
  4. furrow
    make or become wrinkled or creased
    “Can we take the yelling down to a five?” asks Keedie, her head pressed against the car window and her brow furrowed. “It’s loud in this car.”
  5. indignantly
    in a manner showing anger at something unjust or wrong
    “She was struggling to talk!” I say indignantly.
  6. adamant
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
    "No." I shake my head adamantly.
  7. ornery
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    “When half the plastic bags in Scotland seem to end up in my front garden, aren’t I permitted to become a little ornery?” she barks at him.
  8. smattering
    a small number or amount
    There is a smattering of disapproval, but Keedie and I have to bite our hands to contain our snorts.
  9. reclusive
    withdrawn from society; seeking solitude
    “Lots of women were hanged here in Juniper,” I hear myself telling the reclusive villager.
  10. commission
    place an order for
    “Expense. Time. Commissioning an artist. It’s just too much fuss.”
  11. brash
    offensively bold
    “Well, what about the budget?” Keedie asks brashly.
  12. glib
    artfully persuasive in speech
    “It’s not funny, just tragic,” Keedie says glibly.
  13. indulge
    yield to; give satisfaction to
    “The harm,” Mr. Macintosh says furiously, “is allowing a child with autism to think that we’re indulging this ridiculous idea and then letting her be heartbroken when it doesn’t happen.”
  14. suffice
    be adequate, either in quality or quantity
    “There’s a well in Edinburgh for them all,” Mr. Macintosh says, triumphant in what he thinks is a checkmate move. “That should suffice.”
  15. furnish
    provide with objects or articles that make a room usable
    The house is like ours but not fully furnished yet, with boxes still piled up around the stairs.
  16. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    “How are you liking Juniper?” I ask her as we trudge along.
  17. jovial
    full of or showing high-spirited merriment
    “It’s from a film,” she assures me jovially. “An old eighties film that my dad loves.”
  18. falter
    be or become weak, unsteady, or uncertain
    Her smile falters for a moment and she adds, “Well, we did. But Daniel’s at Oxford now, so it’s just me and Dad.”
  19. grubby
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt
    I can feel her looking at me, while my eyes are glued to the muddy path beneath my grubby sneakers.
  20. dilapidated
    in a state of decay, ruin, or deterioration
    It’s a tall, towering old house that looks worn down and forgotten about. Dilapidated, my thesaurus might say.
  21. hunker down
    crouch or squat into a low position
    “Isn’t it spooky?” Audrey whispers, hunkering down behind the wall and staring up at the house.
  22. incredulously
    in a disbelieving manner
    “Well, I don’t really know her. I just know of her.”
    “Is she as spooky as this house?” Audrey asks incredulously.
  23. miscreant
    a person without moral scruples
    “Can I help you miscreants?” she barks at us.
  24. frank
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    She catches me looking and follows my gaze.
    “This is Ernest,” she says frankly. “He’s a tortoise.”
  25. blunt
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    “Their minds don’t change,” Miriam says bluntly.
  26. reckon
    judge to be probable
    “Hey, Addie, do you reckon she’s a witch?”
  27. smug
    marked by excessive complacency or self-satisfaction
    The dolphins look smug in all their photographs.
  28. lurch
    move abruptly
    I glance up to see if it’s Keedie, but my stomach lurches as I realize it’s Emily and a man who must be her father.
  29. meek
    evidencing little spirit or courage
    Emily looks meek. Different. She takes a small list from her bag and passes it to Cleo, her eyes downcast.
  30. curt
    brief and to the point
    “Just those books on the list, please,” Emily’s dad says curtly.
  31. petrify
    cause to become stunned or immobile, as with fear or awe
    Instead she looks scared. Not just scared—petrified.
  32. gingerly
    in a manner marked by extreme care or delicacy
    I gingerly return the book I was reading to its shelf.
  33. bleak
    unpleasantly cold and damp
    “Not going to be a pleasant walk home, Ads,” she says glumly. “Complete dreich out there.”
    “Dreich” is, sadly, one of the many Scottish words that I can’t find in my thesaurus. It means “bleak and miserable.”
  34. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    As we walk home, Keedie holds her satchel over my head as a makeshift umbrella.
  35. amends
    something done or paid to make up for a wrong
    “It matters because when a person does something bad, they have to apologize and make amends.’’
Created on Tue May 10 15:55:56 EDT 2022 (updated Mon May 23 09:12:59 EDT 2022)

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