I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941: Chapters 1–7

by Lauren Tarshis
In this fourth book of the historical fiction I Survived series, eleven-year-old Danny Crane had just moved to Hawaii, away from the dangerous, gang-controlled streets of New York City, when he sees an enormous group of planes headed toward him.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–14
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. harbor
    a sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo
    Hundreds of bomber planes were swarming over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
  2. torpedo
    a long cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile
    Bombs and torpedoes rained down.
  3. peer
    look searchingly
    He peered over his shoulder as the plane flew closer.
  4. cockpit
    compartment where the pilot sits while flying an aircraft
    He could see into the cockpit. The pilot was glaring at him through his goggles.
  5. glare
    look at with a fixed or angry gaze
    The pilot was glaring at him through his goggles.
  6. searing
    extremely hot
    Searing pain filled his chest as he inhaled the smoky air.
  7. shift
    the time period during which you are at work
    She was so tired when she got home from her nursing shifts at the hospital.
  8. cram
    crowd or pack to capacity
    And Finn’s parents had five other kids crammed into a dark two-room apartment.
  9. seep
    pass gradually or leak or as if through small openings
    He could see Finn lying there on the sidewalk, the blood seeping out of his head, the flashing lights of the ambulance.
  10. abandoned
    forsaken by owner or inhabitants
    He was the one who wanted to climb up that fire escape, to explore that abandoned building on 23rd Street.
  11. base
    installation from which a military force begins operations
    There was a huge U.S. military base there called Pearl Harbor. They needed nurses at a hospital on an air base called Hickam.
  12. lurk
    wait in hiding to attack
    Ma said that there was no crime here in Pearl City. Still, Danny was used to being on the lookout for people lurking outside their door, waiting to pounce.
  13. chauffeur
    drive someone in a vehicle
    Danny and Finn hated those rich Sutton Place kids, with their chauffeured cars and snooty expressions.
  14. snooty
    overly conceited or arrogant
    Danny and Finn hated those rich Sutton Place kids, with their chauffeured cars and snooty expressions.
  15. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    He sat down on one of their rickety little chairs.
  16. anchor
    secure a vessel with a mechanical device
    One thing he’d definitely miss was the sound of the bells that rang out every hour from the battleships anchored in Pearl Harbor.
  17. smithereens
    a collection of small fragments considered as a whole
    Ma said the battleship guns were so powerful that one blast could blow an entire house to smithereens.
  18. U-boat
    a German submarine used during World War I and World War II
    And then one day they heard a shocking rumor: One of Earl’s guys said that German U-boat submarines were sneaking around the waters just off Coney Island, in Brooklyn.
  19. clobber
    strike violently and repeatedly
    Finn brought his baseball bat. If a German soldier had tried to step onto the sand, Finn was ready to clobber him.
  20. numb
    not showing human feeling or sensitivity
    On those nights when he was alone in the apartment, wishing Ma wasn’t gone so much, wondering why his father had left them, he’d push all the feelings down, and then pack them tight together. He could almost imagine them somewhere deep inside him, a hard ball of ice. Lately that cold hard place had grown so big Danny almost felt numb.
  21. commotion
    a disorderly outburst or tumult
    But then he heard a commotion in his backyard.
  22. wiry
    rough and stiff in texture
    It was black, the size of a huge dog, with wiry bristles, a pig’s snout, and two huge spiked tusks sprouting right from its face like swords.
  23. bristle
    a stiff hair
    It was black, the size of a huge dog, with wiry bristles, a pig’s snout, and two huge spiked tusks sprouting right from its face like swords.
  24. beady
    small, round, and shiny
    The animal grunted and snorted as it stared at Aki with beady black eyes.
  25. pry
    move or force in an effort to get something open
    Danny pried the baby out of Aki’s sticky hands.
  26. lunge
    make a thrusting forward movement
    Aki howled, lunging over to reclaim his pet.
  27. reclaim
    reassert one's right or title to
    Aki howled, lunging over to reclaim his pet.
  28. hoist
    raise
    Danny managed to grab Aki by the seat of his pants and hoist him up just in time.
  29. kebab
    cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer
    He decided not to tell Aki’s mother how the boar almost turned Aki into a shish kebab.
  30. haul
    draw slowly or heavily
    But Aki kept shouting, “Danny come!” and pulling on his hand, trying to haul him up the hill.
  31. formation
    an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit
    But then a formation of bomber planes flew over them. There were always military planes crisscrossing the skies above Pearl Harbor.
  32. dock
    a landing in a harbor where ships are loaded and unloaded
    “When he’s home, he takes Aki down to the docks. They’ll sit there for hours.”
  33. freight
    goods carried by a large vehicle
    He’d have to get himself to the freight train yards.
  34. port
    where people and merchandise can enter or leave a country
    He should have gone to the Honolulu port right after Ma left for work at 7:00.
  35. frantic
    excessively agitated; distraught with violent emotion
    What would she do when she discovered that Danny was gone? He couldn’t even imagine it, how frantic she’d be.
Created on Thu Oct 12 15:16:30 EDT 2023 (updated Mon Oct 16 14:13:15 EDT 2023)

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