When You Reach Me: Things You Wish For—Things That Crack

by Rebecca Stead
After a fight with her best friend, Miranda starts receiving mysterious letters from a person who can predict the future — and who warns Miranda that someone is going to die.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4

Here are links to our lists for other works by Rebecca Stead: Liar & Spy, Goodbye Stranger
15 words 77 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. nonexistent
    not having being or actuality
    As usual, this makes me curse my nonexistent dad, who must be to blame for my hair, which is straight, brown
  2. linoleum
    a floor covering made from linseed oil, cork, and resin
    Their kitchen floor is yellow and orange linoleum squares instead of the white with gold flakes that we have, and Sal’s bed is up against a different wall in the bedroom.
  3. hexagon
    a six-sided polygon
    If I look at them long enough, I can see all kinds of patterns in those hexagons: lines, arrows, even flowers.
  4. prolong
    lengthen in time; cause to be or last longer
    The last category is always incredibly hard to guess—maybe “things you prolong” or “things that are warped.”
  5. warp
    bend or twist out of shape
    The last category is always incredibly hard to guess—maybe “things you prolong” or “things that are warped.”
  6. pending
    awaiting conclusion or confirmation
    She had written Proposal Pending on a piece of paper and taped it to the end of a shoe box full of foil and fishing line.
  7. pathetic
    inspiring scornful pity
    Alice Evans was trying to make fire hydrants out of clay, which so far just looked like pathetic lumps.
  8. plaque
    (pathology) a small abnormal patch on or inside the body
    The walls were covered with posters about eating apples and plaque and brushing your teeth.
  9. equivalent
    a person or thing comparable to another in value or measure
    So I guessed that even though it was blue—even farther down the rainbow than yellow—it was at least the equivalent of a red.
  10. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    I sat next to Alice Evans, who never complained about anything, and Annemarie sat next to Jay Stringer, who was oblivious to the world when he was reading, but Colin sat next to Julia.
  11. postscript
    a note appended to a letter after the signature
    A postscript: I know you have shared my first note.
  12. suede
    leather with a napped surface
    On the other side of the street, Julia was walking alone, wearing her orange suede knapsack and an or­ange suede headband that matched.
  13. spunky
    showing courage
    I pushed the spunky girl aside, pulled my book out of my desk, and opened it randomly to see where I would land.
  14. epilepsy
    a nervous disorder characterized by convulsions
    It’s her epilepsy, idiot.
  15. plea
    a humble request for help from someone in authority
    It was a plea for mercy.
Created on Wed Jun 25 12:35:31 EDT 2025 (updated Wed Jun 25 12:52:30 EDT 2025)

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