Westfallen: Chapters 25–30

by Ann Brashares, Ben Brashares
What if you had a gizmo — like a radio — that connected you to the past; and what if, in connecting to the past, the course of history was greatly altered? Alice and her friends in 1944 and Henry and his friends in 2023 find themselves in just such a predicament — and the fate of America could depend on them!

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–17, Chapters 18–24, Chapters 25–30, Chapters 31–36
15 words 8 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. newfangled
    needlessly modern, different, or innovative
    “What’s with the line?” I asked as I slipped in.
    “Some newfangled thing called the in-ter-net,” Frances said. I could see the look of defiance on her face. “The library’s two—count ’em, two—computers now have the internet on them.”
    “Seriously?”
  2. sidle
    move sideways
    “Frances!”
    We turned around. Jake Doringer was waving to her. She was friends with Jake Doringer here?
    “Hey, what’s up?” Jake said as he sidled up to us.
  3. dawdle
    take one's time; proceed slowly
    This Sunday we dawdled back from church to fold laundry. The radio was gone.
  4. wistfully
    in a pensively sad manner
    “I wonder what the Mars kids are doing now.” I looked wistfully at the shed. “Probably as bored as we are.”
  5. resolutely
    showing firm determination or purpose
    I pulled Lukas up from the grass. “We’re not going to be here when you turn thirteen,” I said resolutely. “We’ll be back home by then. Your family will be back to normal...."
  6. trundle
    move slowly or heavily
    We trundled to the corner of Bradley and Main, where we entered the very un-magical A&P market and studied its listless candy racks.
  7. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    We chased the bus through the now-rough parts of Millerton, black smoke billowing in our faces. It stopped once to pick up more gray kids, and we tried again to get Lukas’s attention, but his eyes were closed, his forehead leaning against the window.
  8. careen
    move at high speed and in an uncontrolled way
    We pumped our legs as hard as we could, careened along the twisty ramp, and got spat out onto Route 3 amid a whole lot of honking and yelling.
  9. unspool
    reverse the winding or twisting of
    I held the boat as Frances tied the end of the ball of twine to the boat’s mast. She turned on the radio and lit the sparklers. Together we unspooled the twine and lowered the whole contraption down into the well. When the line finally went slack, Frances took out the scissors.
  10. contraption
    a small mechanical device or tool
    Together we unspooled the twine and lowered the whole contraption down into the well. When the line finally went slack, Frances took out the scissors.
  11. uncanny
    surpassing the ordinary or normal
    “Fine! I’m…I’m kind of like…uh, not from here.”
    Ada did an uncanny impression of Frances, staring at me with low-lidded eyes. “I’m from,” I continued, “like, a different world, sort of?”
    “You’re an alien.”
  12. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    “We got the boat,” Lawrence said in a non-screaming way, and I was grateful. “With the telegram.”
    Artie leaned in. He looked tentative and worried. “Can you tell us what happened?” he asked. “What is Westfallen?”
  13. enviable
    causing desire to have something possessed by another
    “Tomorrow, we’re going to bring Lukas back here,” Frances said with enviable conviction, but I could hear the tremor in her voice.
  14. conviction
    an unshakable belief in something without need for proof
    “Tomorrow, we’re going to bring Lukas back here,” Frances said with enviable conviction, but I could hear the tremor in her voice.
  15. tremor
    an involuntary vibration, as if from illness or fear
    “Tomorrow, we’re going to bring Lukas back here,” Frances said with enviable conviction, but I could hear the tremor in her voice.
Created on Sun Aug 02 20:48:49 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Sep 01 12:04:41 EDT 2026)

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