Ollie in Between: Chapters 16–25

by Jess Callans
Twelve-year-old Ollie has to navigate puberty while figuring out where they fit in, dealing with bullies and navigating new and old friendships.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1-7, Chapters 8-15, Chapters 16-25, Chapters 26-34, Chapters 35-44
15 words 6 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. grimace
    contort the face to indicate a certain mental state
    Ellie and Nora walk off, and Cal grimaces and says, “Sorry about them. They just want to help.”
  2. antsy
    nervous and unable to relax
    Nora and Ellie are halfway down the hall and Cal’s antsy to catch up, so she says, “See you tonight!”
  3. fraud
    a person who makes deceitful pretenses
    I stare at my reflection. That liar.
    Fraud.
    It’s just an observation. The truth.
  4. abomination
    an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence
    Lila says it’s an abomination that all anyone does is hide the truth like we don’t know better.
  5. nourishment
    the act of providing with food or nutrients
    Their rootlike systems, called mycelia, connect and link them to surrounding plants, creating a huge system of underground communication and nourishment.
  6. tirade
    a speech of violent denunciation
    “You’re going to sit with us, right? Roscel’s on this whole tirade about nonbinary fashion being dominated by androgyny, and I could use at least one more pair of eyes rolling so he can see that it’s time to simmer down.”
  7. enticing
    highly attractive and able to arouse hope or desire
    She bites her glossy lower lip and smiles at me, like this should be very enticing.
  8. pandemonium
    a state of extreme confusion and disorder
    The first time Lila made me an omelet she set off the smoke detector in the kitchen, which woke my dad up because blackout curtains and a closed door weren’t effective against the pandemonium that was Lila and me scrambling to scrape blackened cheese off the burner.
  9. hindsight
    understanding the nature of an event after it has happened
    In the history of Sundays with Lila, I don’t think we’ve ever had a bad time in hindsight, even if we weren’t having a great time in the moment.
  10. bolster
    support and strengthen
    “Anyway, Pop Pop and I sent you a little pre-birthday gift. It’s not exactly what your sister got, but it’s lovely. There is an extra dress—just to bolster your closet until we get there.”
  11. transition
    the act of passing from one state or place to the next
    “Oh, sure. I don’t see why not! Both of you are in the midst of such wonderfully important life transitions. And someone needs to help Olive doll up a bit.”
  12. microbe
    a minute life form, especially one that causes disease
    Some of this process is natural, just the result of all those microbes that call your gut home multiplying and consuming your body from the inside.
  13. digest
    arrange and integrate in the mind
    She has been an absolutely essential part of how I digest the world.
  14. putrefaction
    the process of decay caused by bacterial or fungal action
    I also know that people don’t particularly enjoy hearing about decomposition, and that the word putrefaction should never under any circumstances, even if it seems relevant to me, be brought up when people are eating.
  15. suspicion
    an impression that something might be the case
    “What’s wrong with Stella?” I rarely know what someone is going to say before they say it, but this time I have a terrible suspicion.
Created on Thu Apr 02 08:20:11 EDT 2026 (updated Tue May 05 15:28:52 EDT 2026)

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