WORD LISTS

"I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis, Chapters 7–14

May 23, 2023
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
In this nineteenth book of the historical fiction I Survived series, twelve-year-old Carmen Grasso finds her horse licking Boston's giant leaky molasses tank just before an explosion.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–14
stumble
She stumbled into the kitchen and headed straight for the coatrack.
steady
“Yes. But I’m...I’m going to school,” Carmen lied, struggling to keep her voice steady.
soothing
Usually, the sound of Rosie’s horseshoes on the cobblestones was soothing to Carmen. But today each footstep was a hammer pounding on her heart.
mane
Carmen slid down and buried herself in Rosie’s mane, staring at her shiny new boots through the mare’s soft white hair.
scramble
Carmen’s eyes snapped open and she scrambled to her feet.
rivet
The bolts— rivets—that held the tank together. There were thousands of them.
And now all the rivets seemed to let go of the tank at once.
massive
As the tank collapsed, the molasses inside seemed to hover in the air for a split second—a massive roiling cloud.
colossal
As the tank collapsed, the molasses inside seemed to hover in the air for a split second—a massive roiling cloud. And then it crashed to the ground, a colossal, churning wave.
stench
The gagging stench of molasses rushed up Carmen’s nose and down her throat, deep into her guts.
devour
The wave of molasses was at least twenty feet tall, and swirling and churning in every direction. With each passing second, it devoured more of the waterfront.
propel
It took all of Carmen’s strength to propel herself forward through the muck.
huddle
She and Tony huddled together, too terrified to talk.
thrash
Another man was thrashing wildly, trying to keep his head above the surface.
desperately
Carmen desperately kicked her legs and spun her arms. She stretched out her neck to try to get her head back above the goo.
flail
The more she flailed, the deeper she sank.
gush
She felt her blood spill out, gushing into the swirling river that was carrying her away.
pry
But she didn’t let go.
Not until the men found her washed up next to a smashed house, and pried her arms away.
bellow
“She’s alive!” he bellowed.
daze
He’d sloshed his way out and wandered around in a daze.
frantic
Mrs. Grasso was already looking for him, searching frantically.
quiver
“And then we looked for you,” Tony told Carmen now, his lip quivering.
flicker
The moon was bright, and the flickering streetlights cast a glow on the city.
slug
“Shhhh!” Tony said, slugging Frankie’s arm. “The present is a surprise.”
beam
He beamed at her. He looked like he was about to burst with excitement.
pang
She felt a pang in her heart as she realized how much she’d missed Italy.

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