When Tomorrow Burns: Part 4

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 12 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. momentum
    an impelling force or strength
    He was gaining, and distantly he heard his coach tell him to slow down, but he had momentum now, why waste it?
  2. gauge
    judge tentatively or form an estimate of
    In the hallway, a couple of boys looked over, and Nomi tried to gauge what that meant.
  3. loathing
    hate coupled with disgust
    Now, he was looking at her like she was stupid, which filled her with absolute loathing.
  4. baseline
    a standard by which things are measured or compared
    Wasn’t not looking just common decency, a baseline no one seemed to have?
  5. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    She crossed the threshold into his office, and his eyes fell on Vi, trailing behind her.
  6. flounder
    have difficulties; behave awkwardly
    “Lucas was…” Nomi floundered.
  7. misshapen
    so badly formed or distorted as to be ugly
    He couldn’t carry all of it, couldn’t care about all his problems, and Nomi’s problems, and Lucas’s, and Vi’s, and a forest full of smoke, and trees that felt pain, and also this misshapen vase.
  8. legacy
    anything handed down by someone or something in the past
    He’d just come from Pike Place Market and seen all the trinkets being passed off as Duwamish—handmade baskets and miniature “totem” poles, woven and carved by those without any ties to his culture, the legacy of his people repackaged and sold to the very people who had already stolen it.
  9. debrief
    elicit a report from someone about a mission, job, or event
    Nomi and her mom came over to Vi’s house after the meeting, to discuss their options, to debrief, to deconstruct every second of what just happened.
  10. grating
    causing irritation
    “We aren’t expelling Nomi,” he’d said, voice smooth and soothing in a grating kind of way.
  11. definitive
    supplying or being a final or conclusive settlement
    Nomi’s mom gave one definitive nod, like she was shelving the awkwardness. “Of course.”
  12. gleam
    an appearance of reflected light
    She rested her head on the marble countertop, polished to a gleam by the Kims’ monthly housekeeper, who Vi never even saw because Vi’s mom always made sure she and the kids were out of the house first.
  13. nurture
    help develop; help grow
    She nurtured the little flame.
  14. devour
    destroy completely
    Slowly, slowly, embers curled, devouring the stick-figure girl, and when the match burned low in her hand, flame creeping toward her fingerprints, she dropped it into the bin.
  15. topple
    cause to tumble by pushing
    Vi scrambled away from the fire, but the movement toppled the bin.
Created on Wed Oct 07 03:27:51 EDT 2026 (updated Mon Oct 19 12:25:27 EDT 2026)

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