WORD LISTS

"I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011" by Lauren Tarshis, Chapters 1–6

Tue Oct 17 09:15:12 EDT 2023
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
In this eighth book of the historical fiction I Survived series, eleven-year-old Ben Kudo is visiting his uncle in the tiny fishing village of Shogahama, when he sees a huge wave coming toward him.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–13
ripple
At first, the wave was tiny.
It was just a ripple in the huge Pacific Ocean.
blare
But then a siren blared.
tsunami
Tsunami!
Seconds later, the huge, foaming black wave crashed into the shore.
churning
The churning water twisted him, tore at him, spun him around like a bird caught in a tornado.
dribble
Ben grabbed the ball and dribbled down the court.
clammy
“Scary dream?” Harry asked, putting a little hand on Ben’s clammy back.
base
He had died four months ago, in a car accident near the California air force base where they lived.
scrawny
She was small and scrawny with a crooked tail that looked like the letter z.
sharply
“Harry,” he said sharply. “You know Dad is gone, and you can’t bring him back.”
territory
He had to eject from the plane over enemy territory.
determined
Ben could picture Dad, standing in the darkness with steely eyes, never once stopping to moan or cry.
And that’s how Ben was determined to be.
gash
The little guy looked terrible—a blood-crusted nose and a big gash on his arm.
craggy
Out one window, Pacific waves crashed against a wall of craggy rocks.
spatter
Mom helped him change out of his blood- spattered pajamas and tucked him into bed.
tinge
“How about a walk?” he said quietly.
“No thanks, Ojisan,” Ben said with a tinge of guilt. “I’m kind of tired, too.”
marina
Ben didn’t want to see the pine forest where Dad used to play hide-and-seek, or the marina where Dad learned to fish.
slink
Ben slinked out of the kitchen, avoiding Ojisan’s eyes.
squadron
At first, Ben thought it was fighter jets passing overhead, like at home when a squadron returned to the base.
dread
Dread rose up in Ben.
practically
Ben suddenly remembered that more earthquakes happen in Japan than practically anywhere else on Earth, even California.
console
He’d described what had happened when the engine exploded, when the lights on the cockpit console had flashed like a video game gone haywire.
haywire
He’d described what had happened when the engine exploded, when the lights on the cockpit console had flashed like a video game gone haywire.
lever
His only chance was to eject, to pull the big yellow lever that would explode him out of the plane and send him shooting through the endless sky.
cockpit
The roof of the cockpit—the canopy—was made of clear plastic, and was designed to pop off when the eject lever was pulled.
upright
Two parachutes would open—the first to yank Dad upright, the second to float him down to Earth.
ejection
What if the parachutes failed and he fell like a rock straight into the ground? Dad had heard stories about ejections that went horribly wrong.
scramble
Ben pushed Harry underneath, and then scrambled in after him.
relief
And there was Mom, on her knees, peering under the bed at Ben and Harry. Her face was streaked with dirt and sweat, but her eyes were filled with relief.
intently
They were all looking intently at the ocean in the distance.
jolt
And with a sudden jolt, Ben understood that it wasn’t a cloud.

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