Life As We Knew It: Chapters 5–8

by Susan Beth Pfeffer
In this first book of The Last Survivors, sixteen-year-old Miranda Evans describes in her journal the struggles of her family in Pennsylvania after an asteroid hits the moon, pushing it closer to Earth and causing disasters.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–8, Chapters 9–16, Chapters 17–21

For more of our lists in this deadly series, click here.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cusp
    the point of transition when something happens or changes
    It feels weird to think there aren’t going to be any finals, but it’s not like I’ve been studying for them. It’s not like I’ve done any schoolwork in weeks.
    I feel bad for kids who are on the cusp, though: One good grade and they won’t flunk the course.
  2. dainty
    affectedly refined
    She tore her sandwich in two roughly equal parts and took dainty-lady bites.
  3. shrill
    having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones
    “That we’re going to die?” I asked, and my voice got shrill. “Like we’re going to starve to death or something?”
  4. giddy
    exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits
    Just the smell of fried potatoes and onions was enough to make us giddy.
  5. rational
    consistent with or based on or using reason
    It wasn’t a rational question, so there was no reason to expect a rational answer.
  6. divine
    emanating from God
    “I begged God for forgiveness,” she said. “And if I were you, Miranda, I’d ask for divine forgiveness, also.”
  7. sustenance
    a source of food or nourishment
    “I’ll get my sustenance as God wishes me to,” she said. “There are lots of different ways of being hungry, you know. Some people are hungry for food and others are hungry for God’s love.”
  8. indulge
    yield to; give satisfaction to
    “Eat your sandwich tomorrow,” I said. “Indulge me. If you insist on starving, at least wait until Saturday when I won’t have to watch.”
  9. malaria
    a disease caused by parasites transmitted by mosquito bite
    “I’ve seen three cases of West Nile virus in the past week,” Peter replied. “I’m hearing from other doctors that they’re seeing cases, too. I’ve heard rumors of malaria. Friend-of-a-friend stories, but that doesn’t mean they’re not true.”
    “Mosquito-borne illnesses,” Matt said.
  10. disconcerting
    causing an emotional disturbance
    But today the sun was shining and even though the moon glow is disconcerting in the daytime, the sun was still a pleasant relief.
  11. swaddle
    wrap very tightly in cloth, as a baby
    I’d love to wrap you and Matt and Jonny up in swaddling clothes and protect you from everything but I know I can’t.
  12. relish
    spicy or savory condiment
    I decided to have a hot dog with all the trimmings. I slathered mustard and ketchup and relish and sauerkraut and chopped onions all over it.
  13. bile
    a digestive juice secreted by the liver
    I woke up with my throat burning and a taste of bile in my mouth.
  14. constitute
    compose or represent
    When Mom gets up, I’ll ask her about the pancakes, but not about what constitutes a special occasion.
  15. murky
    dark or gloomy
    The day was a little grayish, but still murky and humid and hot, and the water felt great.
  16. dehydrated
    preserved by removing natural moisture
    Rice and beans and powdered milk and salt and boxed soup mix and dehydrated vegetables and corn flakes and lime Jell-O.
  17. glib
    marked by lack of intellectual depth
    “Mom doesn’t think that, and neither do I,” Matt said. I could tell he’d thought about it a lot, and that it wasn’t just a glib answer.
  18. imposition
    an uncalled-for burden
    Mom’s asked her to move in with us, but Mrs. Nesbitt has it in her head that it would be an imposition.
  19. glum
    moody and sorrowful
    She and Jonny were both sitting at the table, looking kind of glum.
  20. kindling
    material for starting a fire
    He sent me out to gather kindling. That seems dumb to me, but at least in the woods there was shade. And it’s a lot easier to gather kindling than it is to chop a tree.
  21. domestic
    a servant paid to perform tasks around the household
    Funny to think of Sammi’s mom hanging clothes on the line. Of course that’s what we’re doing now, but Sammi’s mother was never exactly the domestic type.
  22. frank
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    “I’m glad you’re happy,” I said, although frankly I thought she was crazy, and bad as things are, I’m still not glad when people are crazy.
  23. sulky
    sullen or moody
    Horton kept us up all night wailing in front of Jonny’s bedroom door. He’s gotten very sulky and only ate half of his food yesterday (and Mom didn’t even have to ask him to).
  24. beckon
    appear inviting
    The temperature has been hovering around 100 degrees and it doesn’t get much cooler at night.
    I dreamed heaven was an ice palace, cold and white and beckoning.
  25. jubilant
    full of high-spirited delight
    Right after I got back from swimming, the electricity came on. We haven’t had any in almost a week, and we were jubilant at its return.
  26. translucent
    allowing light to pass through diffusely
    It was cooler than it has been (which is good), but the sky was this weird gray color, not exactly like it was cloudy or even foggy. More like someone had pulled a translucent gray shade over the blue sky.
  27. grim
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    No reassuring smile, no laugh at my overreaction. Matt looked every bit as grim. I steeled myself for the worst.
  28. dormant
    not erupting but not extinct
    The moon’s gravitational pull is forcing magma through the volcanoes. From what we heard on the radio last night and this morning, there are dormant volcanoes erupting everywhere.
  29. clammy
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    It wasn’t cold outside, but it was so clammy that I couldn’t stop shivering.
  30. tabby
    a cat with a gray or tawny coat mixed with black
    After supper, I go searching for Horton until it’s too dark to see anything, let alone a gray tabby.
  31. gaunt
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
    Dad’s lost a few pounds, but he’s always been thin and it’s not like he looks gaunt.
  32. distill
    undergo the process of purifying a liquid
    Boxes of pasta and powdered milk and mashed potatoes. Jars of meat sauce and applesauce. Cases of bottled water and a half dozen jugs of distilled water.
  33. extravagant
    recklessly wasteful
    I’m staying up late because I feel rich with batteries. It’s fun to be extravagant. I know it won’t last, that even those mountains of food Dad brought us aren’t going to last forever.
  34. benevolence
    an inclination to do kind or charitable acts
    Once he’d established the floor was his turf and he was allowing us to use it out of his great benevolence, he checked us all out, and then curled up right next to Jonny and demanded to get his head scratched.
  35. huffy
    roused to anger
    Mrs. Nesbitt’s been huffy about Dad ever since the divorce, but when I invited her, she practically glowed with excitement.
  36. dank
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    I biked into town, inhaling dank ashy air, and went first to Peter’s office, only there was a sign on his door saying he’d closed his office and could be found from now on at the hospital.
  37. attrition
    a wearing down to weaken or destroy
    But sometimes I wonder if the big cannonball horror of knowing someone you love has died is all that much worse than the everyday attrition of life.
  38. nostalgic
    unhappy about being away and longing for familiar things
    Of course we couldn’t have a regular mixed salad (It’s amazing the things one misses. Who would have thought I’d be nostalgic for iceberg lettuce?), but Mom took a can of string beans and a can of kidney beans and tossed them with olive oil and vinegar and declared it a two-bean salad.
  39. meringue
    sweet dessert or topping made of beaten egg whites and sugar
    Mrs. Nesbitt made dessert. She baked meringue shells from powdered egg whites and filled them with chocolate pudding.
  40. endure
    continue to live through hardship or adversity
    Life may not continue the way we know it today, but it will continue. Life endures.
Created on Tue Sep 10 10:05:45 EDT 2013 (updated Mon Jul 10 13:35:50 EDT 2023)

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