Westfallen: Chapters 31–36

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 9 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. accolade
    a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
    We pedaled our bikes to Newlands, me trying not to split the seams of Janie’s uniform or get poked by her many pins and accolades.
  2. grubby
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt
    Artie lifted the paper bag. He unrolled the top and offered it to her. That was the right thing to do, because his hands were pretty grubby.
  3. anonymous
    having no known name or identity or known source
    I think we were both starting to relax. I chewed my cookie and pictured Lawrence waiting at the Western Union office. It was his job to make the anonymous phone call to the police precinct to warn them of a spy sending a telegram, because he sounded the oldest of the three of us.
  4. precinct
    a district in which a particular police force has authority
    I think we were both starting to relax. I chewed my cookie and pictured Lawrence waiting at the Western Union office. It was his job to make the anonymous phone call to the police precinct to warn them of a spy sending a telegram, because he sounded the oldest of the three of us.
  5. perturbed
    thrown into a state of agitated confusion
    And then we heard the screech of tires on the street in front of her house. McGee barked. Anna Schultz looked perturbed.
  6. plaintive
    expressing sorrow
    Officer Fusco approached Artie. “Young man, where are your manners? You need to step aside.”
    Artie cast me a plaintive look. I didn’t know what to do.
  7. commiseration
    feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
    In horror I watched Anna Schultz move straight to the window, and after exchanging a look of disgust and commiseration with the operator, open her purse and count out her money.
  8. proctor
    watch over (students taking an exam, to prevent cheating)
    Walter Hagman was our maniacal middle school tech teacher, who also proctored detention in the tech lab located in the basement every single day with an awful, angry scowl on his face.
  9. taxidermy
    the art of mounting the skins of animals
    “It’s from my mom’s boyfriend. Alan. She does his laundry sometimes. He’s a part-time officer….” I trailed off. “But his heart is really in taxidermy.”
  10. brash
    offensively bold
    And to start, we had to know our roles:
    Frances: Brash, disorganized…hot fake-nerd blah blah whatever Nazi student.
  11. ebb
    fall away or decline
    Mr. Strohman did not roll his eyes, per se, but I think his confidence was ebbing.
  12. wellspring
    an abundant source
    A small but strong wellspring of hope started to gurgle in my chest. I ran after the lady. I didn’t think about doing it. I just did it. It took me a block to catch up to her.
  13. profusely
    in very large amounts or quantities; extremely
    The telegram that the operator had given us was still in my hand. I’d clutched it so tightly and my hand had sweated so profusely that when I unwrinkled the paper to make sure it was real, the figures were all streaked and blurred.
  14. boisterous
    noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
    I lay in bed for a long time that night unable to fall asleep. The thoughts in my head were busier than ever—insistent and boisterous. But my heart was finally quiet.
  15. unrelenting
    never-ceasing
    With the cicada’s song came another noise from beyond the trees. It was familiar at first but then… no. It died away. It couldn’t be. Then the sound rolled back in, unrelenting. Faint at first and then building.
Created on Sun Aug 02 20:49:27 EDT 2026 (updated Tue Sep 01 12:14:19 EDT 2026)

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