A Girl Named Disaster: Chapters 9–16

by Nancy Farmer
Eleven-year-old Nhamo flees from her abusive aunt's home in Mozambique and embarks on a dangerous journey to find her father in Zimbabwe.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–16, Chapters 17–24, Chapters 25–32, Chapters 33–42
40 words 13 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. starling
    a type of common, sociable bird with dark feathers
    The trail was damp under Nhamo’s bare feet, and the forest was full of glossy starlings with dark blue-green feathers and orange eyes.
  2. granary
    a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed
    The villagers followed the stream past clusters of huts and granaries perched on stilts.
  3. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    He had a square house with a red tile roof, and his garden was full of heavily laden banana and papaya trees.
  4. truss
    tie the wings and legs of a bird before cooking it
    Uncle Kufa quickly took three trussed-up chickens from the other villagers and laid them before the doctor.
  5. abstract
    not representing or imitating external reality
    Three of the designs were abstract. The fourth was the outline of a crocodile. She didn’t know what the symbols meant.
  6. writhing
    moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
    She tossed from side to side, her eyes rolled back in her head. Everyone jumped up at once. Masvita dragged Nhamo away from Aunt Chipo’s writhing body.
  7. breadth
    the extent of something from side to side
    She thought the heavy cane was going to smash Grandmother’s face, but it stopped a finger’s breadth away.
  8. poultice
    a medical dressing spread on a cloth and applied to the skin
    Very well, I will make a poultice to draw out the illness, but you will have to find someone else to carry on the treatment after you return home.
  9. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    The trader nodded at Ambuya, and she watched him intently.
  10. humility
    a lack of arrogance or false pride
    “I see your wife has forgotten the traditional humility of our foremothers. Or perhaps it is the teachings of the Catholics.”
  11. indifference
    the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care
    His apparent indifference drove Rosa into a rage. She thrust herself forward and screamed in his face, “Don’t pretend I’m not here! I’ll make you listen if I have to ram the words down your throat!”
  12. resolutely
    showing firm determination or purpose
    Nhamo turned away, resolutely following Ambuya's chair as it swayed along the trail.
  13. quaver
    give off unsteady sounds
    “D-did you speak, Va-Ambuya?” she quavered.
  14. misbegotten
    deserving of scorn or disrespect
    Kufa and that misbegotten brother of Goré would find you in no time.
  15. moor
    secure with cables or ropes
    Crocodile Guts’s boat was still jammed into the reeds, and the mooring rope was still attached.
  16. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    It was wicked to steal—she knew that—but worse to disobey an elder. And so she entered into the adventure with a clear conscience.
  17. enthrall
    hold spellbound
    The moment, when day had not quite become night, held the forest enthralled.
  18. poised
    marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action
    A kudu stood, one foot poised, near the water; a monkey gazed at Nhamo from his perch in a mobola plum tree.
  19. doggedly
    with obstinate determination
    Nhamo doggedly plied the oar.
  20. prow
    the front part of a vessel
    “No, no, no, no,” she whimpered as the prow swung toward shore and crunched into a mass of acacias.
  21. acacia
    any of various spiny trees or shrubs
    Dust, ants, and twigs showered over her, but the trees also caught the craft and kept it from being swept away. After a few moments she felt secure enough to creep forward and tie the rope to an acacia.
  22. permeate
    spread or diffuse through
    The water smelled of rotten fish—an odor she had always associated with Crocodile Guts. Now it seemed to sink into her skin as thoroughly as it had permeated the fisherman.
  23. perverse
    marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict
    Her fingers wrinkled from being immersed in water and, perversely, her mouth dried up with thirst.
  24. thicket
    a dense growth of bushes
    It didn’t seem likely that anyone would venture into the acacia thicket and, fortunately, the village had possessed only a single boat.
  25. bail
    remove (water) from a vessel with a container
    She cradled it between her knees and began bailing with her drinking calabash for all she was worth.
  26. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    In the middle of the day she tied up to an immense strangler fig and clambered over it to reach land.
  27. gullet
    the passage between the pharynx and the stomach
    In midafternoon, a hippo rose out of the water right beside her and opened his huge mouth. He roared—she could see right down his pink gullet—and snapped his teeth at her.
  28. profound
    deep and complete, of sleep
    She lay down again in the boat and fell into a sleep as profound as any she had had surrounded by the breathing of her cousins in the safety of the girls’ hut.
  29. dappled
    having spots or patches of color
    Crack-crack-crick went the leaves, and out of the dappled shade came a fat guinea fowl—and another and another.
  30. elated
    exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits
    Girls weren’t supposed to use them, but Nhamo was so elated, she didn’t care.
  31. straggle
    go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way
    For variety she found straggly mhuvuyu, blackjack weeds, and cooked their leaves as a kind of spinach.
  32. wallow
    roll around
    A hippo wallowed in between.
  33. sheen
    the visual property of something that shines
    The moon was three-quarters full and cast a silvery sheen when the red faded.
  34. hull
    the frame or body of a ship
    It sounded as though the sandbanks were ripping out the hull. For a few moments the boat eased into deeper water, and she breathed more easily, but then it crunched into another obstacle.
  35. forge
    move ahead steadily
    On and on Nhamo forged, not knowing where or for how long, only that she had to keep going or die.
  36. toil
    work hard
    They planted their crops and toiled in the fields.
  37. dismal
    causing dejection
    Nhamo felt satisfied with the dismal scene she had imagined.
  38. flush
    force to come into the open, as from a place of concealment
    They skimmed along the bottom and turned over rocks to flush out frogs and fish.
  39. sate
    fill to contentment
    Again and again they dove with restless energy until, sated, they bobbed around on top with their heads out of the water.
  40. treacherous
    dangerously unstable and unpredictable
    Little by little she began to understand how a creature could maneuver in such a treacherous medium.
Created on Wed Aug 24 13:13:28 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Sep 23 12:47:09 EDT 2022)

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