Ida B: Chapters 9–15

by Katherine Hannigan
Fourth grader Ida B. Applewood enters an angry "Black Period" when unfortunate circumstances change her life beyond her control. With the help of a kind teacher, a loyal cat and dog, her loving parents, and her own resilience, Ida B comes to have a better outlook on life.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–15, Chapters 16–19, Chapters 20–23, Chapters 24–32
15 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. drastic
    forceful and extreme and rigorous
    That cancer was like bugs in a tree: one day you don’t see them at all and the next it seems like they’re everywhere, eating the leaves and the fruit. And it won’t work to find them and squish them one by one. You have to do something drastic.
  2. vivacious
    vigorous and animated
    Did she want to hear me spell “vivacious”?
    “Not now, sweetie.”
  3. tuft
    a bunch or cluster of strands, as of grass, hair, etc.
    Mama’s hair started falling out in big tufts on her pillow, and I would go in her room and collect it when she’d get up for a while.
  4. queasy
    feeling nausea
    My stomach got queasy and I was sure that my lunch was about to make a repeat appearance, when my brain remembered the one thing that might save me.
  5. merciless
    lacking pity, compassion, or forgiveness
    Well, I’ll confess to you that at this point I was not just begging with my words. I was on my knees on the floor, with my hands clenched and lifted up to him, the way people look in pictures when they’re pleading for mercy. But this Daddy was merciless.
  6. resolution
    a decision to do something or to behave in a certain manner
    And then my new heart came up with a resolution. Because when your heart changes, you change, and you have to make new plans. This resolution was for the new me, the new Ida B.
  7. preoccupied
    having excessive or compulsive concern with something
    Somehow, a whole flood of tears had snuck back into my head while my new heart was preoccupied, and they were pushing at the back of my eyes.
  8. radiate
    send out real or metaphoric rays
    I must have radiated foul meanness of the most terrible kind.
  9. excruciating
    extremely painful
    I must have radiated foul meanness of the most terrible kind. Like there was a dark cloud of rank, revolting air around me that no one wanted to penetrate for fear of excruciating pain or agonizing injury.
  10. blubber
    cry or whine with snuffling
    All of a sudden, I could see home and smell it and feel it, and I missed it something terrible. But before I started blubbering and babbling everything to her, my heart stopped me.
  11. vileness
    the quality of being disgusting to the senses or emotions
    I was overfilled with misery. I needed to release a little bit of it before it got to dangerous levels and burst out of me in the form of a wicked vileness that lashed out at anything in its path, including innocent kindergartners.
  12. formulate
    come up with after a mental effort
    I stopped in the doorway of Room 130 for a minute, just taking it in so I could do like soldiers do before a battle: assess the enemy, formulate a plan, get armed, and attack.
  13. assessment
    the act of judging a person or situation or event
    Ms. Washington turning out to be nothing like I expected had temporarily disrupted my assessment of the enemy and my plan, but not for long.
  14. tribulation
    an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event
    Now I knew Ms. Washington was talking to me, but I couldn’t believe she was asking me that particular question. Like she was trying to tell me that all of those tribulations with Ms. Myers were just a bad dream, that this bright, cheerful place was what school was really like, and tomorrow it was going to rain silver dollars, too.
  15. matter-of-fact
    concerned with practical matters
    “How’s it going, Ida?” she said, matter-of-fact, looking straight ahead just like me.
Created on Sat Oct 11 13:47:58 EDT 2025 (updated Fri Dec 19 18:09:55 EST 2025)

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