When Tomorrow Burns: Part 3

by Tae Keller
Three middle school students, once best friends and now uncertain of their place in each other's lives, hunt for the sequel to a book of prophecies they found as children.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Parts 5–6
15 words 11 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. inkling
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    She knew, too, how to do her research when the first inkling of what if tingled through her body.
  2. fathom
    come to understand
    Nomi could not fathom why this was so awkward, but it was.
  3. apocalyptic
    prophetic of devastation or ultimate doom
    Above them, thick smoke pressed against the windows, giving the library an apocalyptic feel, like it might just be the last place on Earth.
  4. align
    be or come into adjustment with
    None of this aligned with any gathered evidence whatsoever.
  5. reclaim
    reassert one's right or title to
    He’d saved up a nearly impossible amount, determined to become one of the few Japanese Americans to reclaim what they’d had.
  6. flourish
    grow vigorously
    Fires would burn, some of them leaving everything charred beyond recognition, others letting new growth flourish.
  7. jolt
    move or cause to move with a sudden jerky motion
    Vi jolted as she looked up from her phone.
  8. anecdote
    short account of an incident
    That whole anecdote had ended up on Instagram.
  9. inertia
    the tendency of something to stay in rest or motion
    And then her hands slipped, and the two of them went flying backward— laws of inertia and gravity and all that—before landing on their butts.
  10. slink
    move or walk stealthily
    Arthur was the one who’d slunk up and ruined her whole night.
  11. goad
    provoke as by constant criticism
    “He’s scared,” Alfie goaded, and the other guys laughed, even though Arthur was absolutely positive that Alfie was terrified.
  12. sympathetic
    expressing compassion or friendly fellow feelings
    The girls exchanged a glance, then gave Nomi genuinely sympathetic looks before flitting out of the bathroom, gossiping about their own lives, laughing to themselves because their worlds weren’t falling apart.
  13. flit
    move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart
    The girls exchanged a glance, then gave Nomi genuinely sympathetic looks before flitting out of the bathroom, gossiping about their own lives, laughing to themselves because their worlds weren’t falling apart.
  14. devise
    come up with after a mental effort
    Nomi wanted to bang on the door, burst it open, demand that Vi tell her what was wrong so she could devise a plan to fix it.
  15. flinch
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    When Vi flinched, Nomi repeated, softer, “You aren’t stupid.”
Created on Wed Oct 07 03:27:39 EDT 2026 (updated Mon Oct 19 12:20:04 EDT 2026)

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