Stine and Vail Book Exercises

Unfriended by Rachel Vail
Word #1: Prickly: (of a person) ready to take offense.

eBook has no page #s. "She's prickly and demanding, sure, but she's very loving, down deep."

My: I've never met someone so prickly before; it's as if anything I say cuts her deep.

Word #2 Warbling: (of a bird) sing softly and with a succession of constantly changing notes.

"I suggest, trying to pretend I didn't really care either way, chewing my gum hard to cover the worried warbling in my voice."

My: The birds warbled along with me as I hummed the national anthem.

Word #3: Flutter: showing nervousness or excitement

"She's mad at me and then suddenly she's all not because she's all fluttery and, like pressing up next to me, and then boom I don't know..."

My: I felt an odd sensation, almost fluttery as I went up to confess to my mom.

Word #4 Binge: excessive indulgence in anything

"Find a new series to binge on."

My: I binged on the potato chips, eating the whole bag.

Word #5 Custodial: Of or relating to the work of guarding or maintaining.

"There's supposedly a locked closet for custodial supplies or maybe access to the roof up there."

My: The janitor had custodial duties involving mopping the floor and cleaning the bathrooms.

Word #6: Hazard: put at risk

"It seemed unlikely even Hazel would hazard going up the C. stairwell."

My: I could not hazard the money I won from the raffle in this game of chance.

Word #7: Spoiled: To harm the character of (a child) by overindulgence or leniency.

"She says I am spoiled a lot, mostly whenever she is in a fight with her mother, but she has never said any of those other mean things..."

My: Claire is so spoiled; she gets whatever she wants!

Word 8: Neurotypical: (NT) is a term coined in the autistic community as a label for people who are not on the autism spectrum.

"My brother and sister both have learning challenges that neurotypical people don't always understand though."

My: Neurotypicals should be honest and say what's really on their minds.

Word #9 Prospect: the outlook for the future.

"I didn't want my only new-friend prospect to know how babyish I was, deep down."

My: My business prospects are looking good.

Word #10: Ironic: coincidental; unexpected.

"She said I was so hilariously ironic."

My: She smiled at me, ironically, after she had cried for two hours.

Word #11: Pry: to inquire impertinently or unnecessarily into something.

"She won't talk about it and I don't want to pry."

Word #12: Displace: to take the place of; replace; supplant.

"I had to displace Brooke as the Queen of Nice"

My: I displaced Adam as the most popular kid in school.

My: I didn't want to pry into my friend's relationship with that boy; it was none of my business.

In When the Dog Howls part of the Goosebumps Horrorland book series, the plot begins with two young protagonists, Andy and Marnie. They are cousins and have been enjoying a nice, quiet day in the Theme Park called "Horrorland." The two cousins have fun being scared and eventually go to a Haunted Theatre to catch a clown-themed performance. Murder the clown asks Marnie to come up on stage, which makes Andy jealous and eventually he decides to go up to the stage as well. After the performance they go to a gift shop where they hear the story of the Blue Kerlew Hound after Andy find a canine tooth, from Jonathan Chiller, the shop's owner. The tooth belonged to a hound that brought bad luck to a town. A sorcerer (Stine, 2010, p. 27) took its tooth and anyone who possessed it could make wishes. Andy and Marnie made many wishes like more food, a loose cow in the school (Stine, 2010, p. 51), and it all starts to go wrong, especially after the tooth gets wet. Andy discovers that each wish made makes it easier for the hound to find the wisher. The hound found the cousins (Stine, 2010, p. 112), (they thought the hound was the neighbor's dog) but after they gave up the tooth, the hound couldn't do anything to them. Everything seemed okay until Marnie called Andy to reveal she found and took the tooth. Poor Andy must pay for the consequences of taking the tooth when he is transported back to the gift shop.

References

Stine, R. (2010). Goosebumps Horrorland-When the ghost dog howls. New York: Scholastic.

Vail, R. (2014). Unfriended. New York: Viking Children's Books.