Vocabulary:

For each chapter, have your students look up the following vocabulary words and find the definitions.

Chapter 1

1. Rife- (Abundant; numerous)
2. Briny- (Of, relating to, or resembling brine; salty)
3. Executor- (A person who is responsible for carrying out the terms of a will)
4. Misspoken- (To speak or pronounce incorrectly)
5. Engulfed- (To swallow up or overwhelm by or as if by overflowing and enclosing)

Chapter 2

1. Enthusiasm- (Great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause.)
2. Bleak- (Gloomy and somber)
3. Charred- (To burn the surface of; scorch)
4. Rubble- (A loose mass of angular fragments of rock or masonry crumbled by natural or human forces)
5. Grotesque- (Characterized by ludicrous or incongruous distortion, as of appearance or manner)

Chapter 3

1. Gorgonzola- (A pungent, blue-veined, pressed Italian cheese made of cow's milk
2. Forlorn- (Appearing sad or lonely because deserted or abandoned)
3. Acquaintances- (Knowledge of a person acquired by a relationship less intimate than friendship)
4. Pursued- (To follow in an effort to overtake or capture; chase.)
5. Elegant- (Characterized by or exhibiting refined, tasteful beauty of manner, form, or style.)

Chapter 4

1. Escort- (One or more persons accompanying another to guide, protect, or show honor)
2. Daresay- (To think very likely or almost certain; suppose)
3. Culinary- (of or relating to or used in cooking)
4. Trifled- (Something of little importance or value)
5. Revulsion- (A sudden strong change or reaction in feeling, especially a feeling of violent disgust or loathing)

Chapter 5

1. Meditatively- (Characterized by or prone to meditation)
2. Invigorated- (To impart vigor, strength, or vitality to; animate)
3. Stirring- (To rouse, as from indifference, and prompt to action)
4. Subservient- (Useful as a means or an instrument; serving to promote an end.)
5. Mulctuary- (Imposing a pecuniary penalty; consisting of, or paid as, a fine.)

Chapter 6

1. Graciously- (Characterized by kindness and warm courtesy)
2. Inheritance- (The act of inheriting)
3. Ridiculously- (Deserving or inspiring ridicule; absurd, preposterous, or silly)
4. Confidence- (That which is confided; a secret)

Chapter 7

1. Notorious- (Known widely and usually unfavorably)
2. Persuade- (To induce to undertake a course of action or embrace a point of view by means of argument, reasoning, or entreaty)
3. Stage-struck- (Fascinated by the stage; seized by a passionate desire to become an actor.)
4. Implications- (something which may fairly be understood, though not expressed in words.)

Chapter 8

1. Circumstances- (A condition or fact attending an event and having some bearing on it)
2. Dilemma- (A problem that seems to defy a satisfactory solution.)
3. Glinted- (throw a glance at; take a brief look at)
4. Significant- (Having or expressing a meaning; meaningful)

Chapter 9

1. Merely- (And nothing else or more; only)
2. Scraggly- (Ragged; unkempt)
3. Shabbily- (Despicable; mean).
4. Parcel- (Something wrapped up or packaged)

Chapter 10

1. Despondent- (low-spirited)
2. Formulate- (To devise or invent)
3. Grappling Hook- (An iron shaft with claws at one end, usually thrown by a rope and used for grasping and holding)
4. Throbbing- (pounding or beating strongly or violently)

Chapter 11

1. Illegible- (Not legible or decipherable)
2. Fiendish- (Extremely wicked or cruel)
3. Catastrophe- (A great, often sudden calamity)
4. Lamentably- (Miserable; pitiful; paltry; in a contemptuous or ridiculous sense)

Chapter 12

1. Dialogue- (Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative)
2. Afoot- (In the process of being carried out)
3. Elaborate- (To express at greater length)
4. Intermission- (The period between the acts of a theatrical or musical performance)

Chapter 13

1. Explanatory- (Serving or intended to explain)
2. Horrendous- (Hideous; dreadful)
3. Binding- (To hold or restrain with or as if with bonds)
4. Furrowed- (A deep wrinkle in the skin, as on the forehead)