Two Degrees: "Perspective"–"Solavaya"

by Alan Gratz
Four young people find themselves struggling to survive against the devastating effects of climate change. Akira is caught inside a California wildfire; Owen and George battle and save a struggling polar bear in the Canadian tundra; and Natalie survives Miami's "Big One" hurricane.

This list covers vocabulary from "Perspective"–"Solavaya."

Here are links to our lists for the book: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5, List 6
10 words 20 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. climate change
    a shift in the world's average weather and temperature
    Akira felt her pink, fire-burned skin glow hot with shame. She had never challenged her dad on climate change because she hated to argue.
  2. perspective
    a way of regarding situations or topics
    Her dad always told her to get higher when she needed a better perspective on things, and now she had it.
  3. warily
    in a manner marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    Nanuq sensed the other polar bear immediately. He was up on all fours now, and Owen watched as the two big bears began to circle each other warily.
  4. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    The two big bears rolled around in the snow, grunting and snapping and growling, totally oblivious to anything else in the world.
  5. distraction
    drawing someone's attention away from something
    “This is exactly the kind of distraction we need to escape,” George whispered.
  6. urgency
    an earnest and insistent necessity
    Their three-legged march took on more urgency now.
  7. marina
    a fancy dock for small yachts and cabin cruisers
    Reuben had cleared the coastal marinas of their sailboats and yachts and dragged them five miles inland and dumped them on their sides in parking lots.
  8. sodden
    wet through and through; thoroughly wet
    Someone was trying to climb up out of the water on a half-buried tangle of two-by-fours and sodden drywall.
  9. desperate
    showing extreme urgency or intensity because of great need
    Natalie swallowed. She knew Patience was right, but she was so desperate to find Mama and Tía Beatriz again.
  10. evacuate
    move out of an unsafe location into safety
    We need to have ways to evacuate people in the path of a storm who can’t afford to leave, or places they can go to be safe if they can’t get out in time.
Created on Wed Jul 09 13:26:30 EDT 2025 (updated Wed Aug 13 13:51:13 EDT 2025)

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