WORD LISTS

"I Survived the Great Chicago Fire, 1871" by Lauren Tarshis, Chapters 8–15

Tue Oct 24 18:02:42 EDT 2023
By Vocabulary.com (NY)Visual Thesaurus Moderator
In this eleventh book of the historical fiction I Survived series, eleven-year-old Oscar Starling, newly arrived in the city nicknamed the "Queen of the West," chases a thief into a house, where he is trapped by flames.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–15
grope
He dropped to the ground, crawling blindly, groping for the door.
insist
“But he not dead!” Bruno insisted, putting his face even closer to Oscar’s, so his slimy little nose touched Oscar’s nose.
ease
Oscar eased his arm from around Bruno and struggled to his feet, brushing the dust and ashes off his burned clothes.
heave
Many people were dragging trunks and suitcases, or struggling with heavy sacks heaved over their shoulders.
canteen
Luckily the man next to her had a canteen of water, and quickly drenched her.
smolder
She kept her eyes on Oscar,
 swatting away embers that came too close to his face or smoldered on his clothes.
canvas
People in the crowd watched hopefully as about fifteen firefighters hopped off the wagons and got to work, readying the pumper and
 uncoiling the heavy canvas hoses.
flurry
During the big fire, a flurry of sparks had ignited the roof of Oscar’s barn.
tame
It was amazing how those heavy buckets flew across the chain of hands, how the splashes of water tamed the flames.
reckon
They’d need an ocean to put out those flames, Oscar reckoned, or a bucket brigade of a thousand people.
alternate
But new fires kept forcing them to find alternate routes.
shard
The smell of oil filled the air, and shards of wood flew all around them.
quench
Halfway down the alley, they discovered a water barrel. They all ran toward it, desperate to quench their thirst and to cool their burning skin.
shrivel
Oscar felt like a stalk of wheat, shriveled in the boiling sun.
hoist
He hoisted the lid off and held Bruno while the boy slurped up water like a thirsty horse.
soothing
They splashed the soothing water on their faces and down scorched necks and arms.
relief
Oscar sighed with relief.
menacing
And now Otis turned his menacing stare on Oscar.
stagger
Jennie staggered back, and Bruno went running into her arms.
brace
Oscar closed his eyes, bracing himself for the slicing metal.
rasp
The words came out as a rasping whisper.
muddle
But even in his dazed and muddled state, he knew he would not do that.
rein
Most horses would have refused to budge in a fire like this, or would be rearing up in wild panic. But the old nag was calm, and Joseph barely had to snap the reins to keep her moving quickly.
fume
Oil fumes rose up, and something worse—that slaughterhouse stench.
helm
A large sailboat was racing through the water. The mast was burning. There was nobody at the helm.
foul
He started swimming as fast as he could, keeping his eyes and mouth closed against the foul water.
makeshift
They both clung to the makeshift raft, kicking frantically.
propel
But instead, the force of the explosion created a wave that came up behind them. It propelled them forward, out of the fire’s reach, toward the safety of the north shore.
trudge
Oscar told Mr. Morrow all about them as they trudged away from the river.
wade
It would be another endless day before finally the fires began to tire, when the winds lost their fury, when it was finally safe enough to wade out of the freezing water.
scab
His lungs were healing, now, his burns and cuts scabbing over.
lot
He’d point to men carting away wagonloads of wreckage, at the new shacks popping up on still-smoldering lots.
nag
He’d looked out the window, and there was Joseph’s cab, pulled by his faithful old nag.
patter
The baking smells were getting stronger, and Oscar heard pattering feet running up the stairs.
speckle
Her new dress was speckled with flour; she loved helping Mama in the kitchen.

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