WORD LISTS

"The Last Cuentista" by 
Donna Barba Higuera, Chapters 8–16

Mon Aug 22 10:22:33 EDT 2022
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
After Earth is destroyed by a comet, twelve-year-old Petra Peña wakes up on a new planet and discovers she is the only one who remembers Earth. She must use her stories and her wits to save humanity's legacy.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–16, Chapters 17–23, Chapters 24–30
scuffle
Thumps and cursing shift around the room until there’s one big thud. Ben moans. The scuffling stops.
purge
“He’ll have to be purged.”
compromise
The Collective’s mission can’t be compromised by one child.
chisel
He stops to brush around a dark spot with his finger, chiseling around its perimeter until a rock comes loose.
hodgepodge
I stare down at the hodgepodge of beads. “They don’t look at all alike.”
complement
“They’re not meant to be identical; they’re meant to complement one another. Differences make things beautiful as a whole.”
assimilation
I think of the Collective from the news. Erase the pain of the past. How far did they go? But the scientists and doctors on our ship, like Mom and Dad, won’t tolerate assimilation.
anomaly
“Freckles.” A finger rubs over the bridge of my nose. “Skin damage from their sun,” the Chancellor says. “Without epiderm filters, this sort of physical anomaly happens.”
capillary
Her eyes are so light I can see spiderweb capillaries behind her irises.
ocular
The Corposcope speaks in rigid tone: “Ocular disease. Diagnosis: retinitis pigmentosa.”
“Her eyes don’t appear different than the others,” Crick says.
aberration
But I’m no aberration.
imperceptible
He makes an almost imperceptible head nod.
variance
“I believe we have done enough to absorb this one small physical variance, don’t you?”
nodule
Two singed pink nodules drop into a glass of fluid.
compliance
“I hope they can perform.” He walks toward the door. “There were not any decent Experts until the removal of the Epsilon an entire unit ago. Let us hope these have impeccable knowledge and compliance.”
remnant
The sludgy lump sucks down the hole with remnant stasis gel.
obscure
Just like in our room, where a window should be on the outer wall, a metal insert obscures the view outside to the stars, and maybe my first view of Sagan.
replenish
Without the constant swooshing of the stasis gel being replenished, you could hear a nanochip drop.
tonic
“Would you like another sleep capsule or some tonic?”
stark
The central cavity of the massive room is so stark and white, I blink hard, thinking I must be in the wrong place. There is no park. No bushes or trees.
matte
Only an expanse of bland, matte metal remains.
iridescent
The carpet of green grass, with its trails and Mom’s tree, has been replaced by a floor of iridescent glass glowing from below.
barren
Besides a few tables and white pillars, the main room is barren. It feels twice as big with everything missing.
unanimity
The word Harmony in bright green starts to flash across the otherwise blank ceiling. I’m sure I’m imagining it, but then Unanimity replaces it in purple.
concoction
It only tastes mildly of something like diluted apple juice, and I don’t feel any sort of change in my emotions. Within a few seconds, the concoction of the two expands in my stomach, and I feel like I’ve eaten enough food to last me the entire day.
alfalfa
I burp bioloaf, and a waft of alfalfa and disinfectant fills the air around me.
sufficient
“The biodrones have confirmed the atmosphere has sufficient oxygen.”
salinity
“The water supply has shown only mild salinity,” she continues.
specimen
“The drones were unable to collect the underwater plants. So, the Collective will need to forage samples in person. Risk is high, so the Zeta unit will collect these among other specimens we need.”
predecessor
“And with it we will fix the errors brought on by our predecessors.”
I grit my teeth. I know by “predecessors” she means my parents and the other passengers.
anemic
Mixed with the spin of holographic stars, glimpses of pale faces with red-tonic-lined lips wash by like anemic vampires.
saunter
Rápido saunters off toward his den near the trail leading into the desert.
perilous
“I’m glad we survived our perilous mission to Home Depot.”
elusive
“I didn’t see anything.”
She ignores me and whips her flashlight in the other direction. “Ah yes, it must be. The elusive Sage Fairy.”
protrude
Giant arms of spiky green protrude into the sky.
lupine
“Fairy gowns and suits shimmer like the wings of dragonflies. Fairies drink from cups the shape of lupine bells. Fountains of juice and nectar of all different colors fill their cups.”
debris
It hits the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Fiji. In an instant, a bowl of debris shoots upward.
acclimate
“I must be acclimating to the new diet, Chancellor. I apologize,” I say, unable to look at her.
disoriented
If I’m caught—“I just got disoriented."
oblivious
I would’ve been better off if the Collective’s reprogram to my Cog had worked. At least I’d be oblivious like the others.

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