Sometimes the Girl: Chapters 34–Epilogue

by Jennifer Mason-Black
Teenager Holiday Burton, who is struggling with big, traumatic issues in her life, takes a job with the elderly author Elsie McAllister. The secrets she uncovers in Elsie's attic will change her life.

Here are links to our lists for the book:

Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–16, Chapters 17–24, Chapters 25–33, Chapters 34–Epilogue.
15 words 1 learner

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. transcription
    something written, copied from one medium to another
    It’s real but a bit like a transcription of an actual conversation—slow, fun mostly for the people involved.
  2. memoir
    an account of the author's personal experiences
    No forthcoming memoirs about living with a famous mother, no cashing in on the name.
  3. incapacitated
    lacking in or deprived of strength or power
    “Our mother isn’t incapacitated,” says Dr. Galaxy. “There are no medical indications she is.”
  4. congregate
    come together, usually for a purpose
    Ducks are migrating through and they congregate in flocks on the water.
  5. atrocity
    an act of shocking cruelty
    For the Nipmuc people who came before—tragedy and atrocity.
  6. aura
    distinctive but intangible quality around a person or thing
    Puck, always with a phone full of numbers, an aura full of open doors and other people’s giggles and rapt stares across crowded rooms as he played his guitar.
  7. rapt
    feeling great delight and interest
    Puck, always with a phone full of numbers, an aura full of open doors and other people’s giggles and rapt stares across crowded rooms as he played his guitar.
  8. senile
    mentally or physically infirm with age
    “At best, it would be an old woman’s vanity project. At worst, they’ll say that I’m senile and my children took advantage of me, published an inferior manuscript for the money. It would serve no purpose.”
  9. mundane
    found in the ordinary course of events
    The first time I opened it and saw some of the names, I imagined the letters would be grave and full of importance and beautiful lines, but the few I read were pretty mundane.
  10. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    I read these slowly, expecting revelations, getting the sorts of things that friends send to each other when their lives are rubble and hope.
  11. perspective
    a way of regarding situations or topics
    Perhaps in the future, after you have a few published works under your belt and can distance yourself appropriately, you may have the skill and perspective required for it.
  12. transpire
    come about, happen, or occur
    It would be a wonderful lens through which to view the larger, more important events that transpire.
  13. albatross
    something that hinders or handicaps
    Elsie has more than one albatross around her neck.
  14. painstakingly
    in a very careful manner
    Did she truly imagine that at some point she’d want to bring the two—two!—cuckoo clocks down again, wind their clockwork hearts, and watch their painstakingly painted birds do musical battle every hour?
  15. mercenary
    profit oriented
    Since her original home in Eastley burned to the ground, the Kindly Oak has borne the brunt of the fanatic love and mercenary greed her death has unleashed.
Created on Tue Mar 31 05:53:34 EDT 2026 (updated Mon May 04 21:14:31 EDT 2026)

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