Grade 5: "Are You My Papa?"

In this excerpt from Journey to America by Sonia Levitin, Lisa, Ruth, and little Annie make the journey to America with their mother to join their father.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. threadbare
    thin and tattered with age
    Everything I had brought from Germany was threadbare, except for my coat.
  2. incredibly
    not easy to believe
    My sister, incredibly, my sister had grown up, and I hadn’t even noticed!
  3. commotion
    confused movement
    The railroad station was filled with the commotion of arrivals and partings.
  4. porter
    a person employed to carry luggage and supplies
    To me it was just the same as any railroad station—dirty and old and busy, and the many porters sped right past us, although Mother signaled and tried to speak in her halting French.
  5. halting
    proceeding in a fragmentary, hesitant, or ineffective way
    To me it was just the same as any railroad station—dirty and old and busy, and the many porters sped right past us, although Mother signaled and tried to speak in her halting French.
  6. grim
    harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance
    The bus stopped beside a row of flat wooden buildings, like army barracks, set in a grim, dusty enclosure of wire fencing.
  7. sliver
    a thin fragment or slice that has been shaved from something
    We lined up to receive our supper: a stew of potatoes and green beans with slivers of meat.
  8. hastily
    in a hurried manner
    Mother was already dressed, and she hastily packed our pajamas.
  9. laden
    filled with a great quantity
    Even the little children were laden with bags and boxes, Annie, too, with her dolls and things.
  10. hoist
    raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help
    I could see barrels and boxes being brought up the ramp, and others being hoisted aboard with a huge crane.
  11. afloat
    swimming in or lying on top of the water
    Our ship was a large French ocean liner, as large as several city blocks, and in every way like a whole town afloat.
  12. hysteria
    excessive or uncontrollable fear
    Two elderly women were in a state of near- hysteria.
    “We’ll sink, I know it,” one cried out.
  13. fret
    worry unnecessarily or excessively
    “Papa always checks things like that. Don’t worry.”
    “I hope so,” Mother said, frowning. Then she smiled at me. “You’re right, dear. It’s silly to fret about it.”
  14. breadth
    the extent of something from side to side
    Then, suddenly there began a murmur, rising to a shout, until it spread the length and breadth of the ship.
  15. embrace
    the act of clasping another person in the arms
    With all the crowd milling past, Mother and Papa drew close in a long embrace.
Created on Wed Apr 08 18:16:39 EDT 2026 (updated Fri Aug 21 13:08:53 EDT 2026)

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