The Unfinished Angel: The Nature of Zola–What the Angel Knows

by Sharon Creech
An American girl named Zola arrives in a small Swiss village and encounters an angel awaiting a mission.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Peoples–My Territory, Swishing in the Night–Meatballs, The Nature of Zola–What the Angel Knows

Here is a link to our lists for Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.
30 words 23 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sober
    dignified and serious in manner or character
    Later, Zola says to me in a sober way, “I like that Signora Mondopoco. I like her very much.”
  2. commission
    the state of being in working order and ready for operation
    And then I think, does she mean “finished,” as in kaput, over and done with, out of commission?
  3. careen
    move sideways or in an unsteady way
    Jumpy Manuel careens from one end of the room to the other, aiming his big feet at the shizzing ball.
  4. grumble
    make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath
    “It’s not a stupid glocken,” Paolo grumbles.
  5. mournful
    expressing sorrow
    Quiet Rosetta is staring mournfully out of the kitchen window.
  6. wary
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    The childrens pour out of the house, eager to meet the newcomers, but also wary.
  7. perplexity
    trouble or confusion resulting from complexity
    Mr. Pomodoro is especially bendy as he pulls his long legs and arms from the car and arranges his face in various forms of eagerness and perplexity and fumblingness.
  8. fragile
    vulnerably delicate
    Maybe something like this happened to Mrs. Pomodoro, and now she is trying to be strong on the outside, but inside is fragile.
  9. summons
    a request to be present
    While I am thinking of the nature of mamas, I hear in the air a summons. Signor Rubini of the blue socks needs me.
  10. mantel
    a shelf that projects from the wall above a fireplace
    She takes them to the mantel. There she places a picture of her husband and one of Zola next to the ones of her and Jake.
  11. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    Swiftly, Zola clambers down through the trippy-trap door.
  12. sympathy
    sharing the feelings of others, especially sorrow or anguish
    I was only trying to be a good hearing aid and contribute something now and then to show the sympathy.
  13. pitiful
    deserving or inciting compassion
    When finally I got to see him, he was in an incubator: a tiny, shriveled bird no bigger than this”—Zola cups her hands together—“with wires poking here and there, such a skinny puny pitiful thing.”
  14. eerie
    suggestive of the supernatural; mysterious
    “While I am standing there, an eerie glow of blue-white light appears in the corner of the room, and the glow comes closer and closer to the incubator, and then it moves up to the ceiling and hovers there.”
  15. polite
    showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc.
    What I really want is to float up into the mountains to see the goats and stop from hearing the nonsense about the pigeons, but I am a polite angel most of the time and so I say, “Of course. Go on talking.”
  16. dainty
    delicately beautiful
    Tiny heads that turn this way and that, watching, listening. Tiny feets, so dainty.
  17. crevice
    a long narrow opening
    The lizards sun themselves on the rock walls, dartling into slim crevices when peoples or animals near.
  18. insist
    assert to be true
    “They cut your stomach open,” Manuel insists.
  19. slink
    move or walk stealthily
    They creep out the door, one dribble, two dribble, slinking along the side of the building.
  20. stubborn
    refusing to change one's mind or ways; difficult to convince
    Nicola stands stubbornly in the middle of the room, her arms crossed.
  21. flutter
    the motion made by flapping up and down
    And just then, right that moment, there is a gray flutter and on the ledge of the tower balcony lands a pigeon.
  22. iridescent
    having a play of lustrous rainbow colors
    It is sleek and smooth, with iridescent (is that the word for the sparkly shine?) feathers: gray on top but luminous red and green underneath, and when the pigeon moves its head, you see those colors flashing, and the light spickles off the smooth feathers so that the bird appears to glow.
  23. shimmer
    shine with a weak or fitful light
    The pigeon cocks his head so that I can see the powerful red and green shimmery feathers.
  24. behold
    see with attention
    And even though I do not believe that pigeons are angels, in that minute, beholding that pigeon, I am not so sure, and so I say to Zola, “I will see what I can do. You and—and—the pigeon stay here and watch the childrens, hokay?”
  25. flustered
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    The mayor is most flustered. “What? You are interrupting. I am busy here.”
  26. stray
    having no home or having wandered away from home
    The pigeon that came to the tower is gone, leaving behind only a stray feather and some white slopping.
  27. arsenal
    all the weapons and equipment that a country has
    Sometimes I feel that I have to be like the mountain, rock strong, and on the inside I have to have the arsenal ready to fight invaders who might hurt my peoples. And I don’t even have a sword.
  28. strut
    walk in a proud, confident way
    There is Paolo, strutting along the alleyway and up the stone drive, running his hand along the wall, casually peering into each of the holes.
  29. glance
    take a brief look at
    He stops, glances around, and removes a folded white paper from his sleeve.
  30. deposit
    put in a place firmly
    Again he glances this way, that way, and then his hand darts into the hole, depositing the paper.
Created on Tue Dec 15 15:36:40 EST 2015 (updated Mon Sep 17 16:24:29 EDT 2018)

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