Holler of the Fireflies: Chapters 40–61

by David Barclay Moore
Twelve-year-old Javari Harris travels from Brooklyn, New York to West Virginia's Appalachian Ridge Christian College, where he learns a lot more than he had expected at the STEM camp.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–19, Chapters 20–39, Chapters 40–61
30 words 4 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. queue
    form a line or stand in line
    “Okay, everybody!” Ms. Ferguson yelled. “Queue up! We’re about to go down!”
  2. methane
    a colorless, odorless gas used as a fuel
    “Like ol’ Pete said,” Ms. Ferguson went on, “birds were how miners knew if there was enough oxygen to breathe. Or if there was any deadly methane gas. If the bird in the cage died, those miners knew to get out quick before they died.”
  3. plunder
    steal goods; take as spoils
    “My boy’s run back there to plunder his stash.”
  4. hack
    cough spasmodically
    But I couldn’t stop hacking. Miss Maddie brought me a glass of water that she poured from an old pitcher.
  5. shabby
    showing signs of wear and tear
    They were dressed shabby and about the same age as Daddy. These two looked like they hadn’t seen a bath.
  6. tenacious
    stubbornly unyielding
    At first, you think you kin handle ’em ’cause they’re just prescription, but it’s too tenacious.
  7. synchronous
    occurring or existing at the same time
    “Flying beetles,” Cricket said. “Synchronous fireflies. Only a few like ’em in the whole world. Right here in Appalachia!”
  8. arthropod
    invertebrate having jointed limbs and a segmented body
    Arthropods were small, spineless animals. I was surprised by how many different varieties we found.
  9. aphid
    any of various small plant-sucking insects
    Well, many, many years ago, farmers in Europe prayed to the Virgin Mary to save their crops from aphids, crop destroyers, and then, ladybugs appeared and ate up all the aphids!
  10. raw
    unprocessed or minimally processed
    I reckon that means you good at swimming through raw sewage water too!
  11. facility
    a building or place that provides a particular service
    That little building there is the Horsewhip Holler sewage facility!
  12. thorax
    the body of an arthropod between the head and the abdomen
    The spider looked like it recognized me.
    Then it rose up on its legs and dropped something out of its thorax, its underside.
  13. idle
    not in action or at work
    I just laid there. I didn’t feel like it.
    Poppa woulda called me idle.
  14. nodule
    a small rounded mass or protuberance on the body
    The doctors found a nodule, or small lump, in one of my poppa’s lungs.
  15. charismatic
    possessing an extraordinary ability to attract
    “Okay, Jay, I think you’re very charismatic, but I’m trying to stay focused on school and getting into a good college.”
  16. grubby
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt
    The grubby little white kid ran over and tackled Tuyet around the knees.
  17. congenital
    present at birth but not necessarily hereditary
    Tuyet gripped my arm and led me away, telling him, “I’m not surprised he blamed you, Mr. Dalton. Javari is a congenital liar.”
  18. dense
    slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
    “You’re dense if you think that man didn’t try to steal from you,” she said.
  19. proxy
    a person authorized to act for another
    Tuyet said, “Uncle Billy’s is one of the companies that, by proxy—”
    “Proxy!” Wendell shouted. “Big words!”
    “Uh, yes, by proxy Uncle Billy’s spoils local drinking water,” Tuyet said.
  20. decrepit
    lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality
    Even used extra-large pix in our Nightjar presentation so their decrepit old eyes wouldn’t have to squint!
  21. grudge
    a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation
    “I’ll get even. My family carries an exceptionally long grudge gene.”
  22. ingenious
    showing inventiveness and skill
    It was a slip of paper that read: THE BOOK OF INGENIOUS DEVICES BY BANŪ MŪSĀ IBN SHĀKIR.
  23. resolve
    the trait of being firm in purpose or belief
    "I enjoyed your presentation, Javari. That took a mess of... resolve.”
  24. excursion
    a journey taken for pleasure
    “I been having trouble getting to bed ever since you stopped going out on your late-night excursions.”
  25. forage
    collect or look around for, as food
    I may start foraging in the hills for wild ginseng.
  26. vigil
    a peaceful, stationary demonstration or protest, especially at night
    I watched some dude with a yellow megaphone start shouting into it. The early crowd that had come were respectful at first, like that vigil back in Bushwick.
  27. waspish
    very irritable
    “I never seen hill people so waspish,” Becca said.
  28. imprudent
    not sensible, responsible, or wise
    “Of all the witless, imprudent muddles I’ve seen in my years,” yelled Becca’s mom, “this catastrophe takes the cake!”
  29. muddle
    a difficult situation
    “Of all the witless, imprudent muddles I’ve seen in my years,” yelled Becca’s mom, “this catastrophe takes the cake!”
  30. skimpy
    containing little excess
    He was still lying there in bed with his skimpy hospital gown on and that funny brace around his neck.
Created on Sat Nov 25 08:48:38 EST 2023 (updated Sat Nov 25 14:45:40 EST 2023)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.