Found: Chapters 13–21

by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Thirty-six young people — all adopted — are brought together for the first time to learn the truth of their origins, which is more about when than where. Three of the children — Jonah, his sister, and a new friend, Chip — are among this unique group trying to make sense of their new reality that began in the distant past, is altered by time travel, has wiped out the present, and is heading toward an uncertain future.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–12, Chapters 13–21, Chapters 22–29, Chapters 30–33
15 words 12 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. conspiratorial
    relating to or characteristic of a secret plot or agreement
    “I kept thinking, why’d he agree to meet with us just to tell us he couldn’t tell us anything? And I think”—she dropped her voice low, conspiratorially—“I think it was because he wanted to find out what Mom and Dad already knew.”
  2. hyperventilate
    breathe excessively hard and fast
    "She started hyperventilating, almost, and she said, 'I can’t talk to you. Don’t call me ever again.’ Weird, huh?"
  3. glowering
    showing a brooding ill humor
    Jonah looked up to see the bus driver in the aisle in front of them. He was glowering.
  4. generic
    having no special or distinctive characteristics; unoriginal
    The letter was on a piece of generic white paper.
  5. plaintive
    expressing sorrow
    “But she’s got information,” Chip said. “She might know who I am.” Chip sounded so plaintive, Jonah couldn’t argue anymore.
  6. telepathic
    communicating without apparent physical signals
    He waved his arms at her, trying to send a telepathic message, No, no, go back! Pretend you’ve got nothing to do with me or Chip! Act normal! Don’t give anything away!
  7. ruefully
    in a manner expressing pain or sorrow
    “You know where I came from?” Chip asked. “Where we came from?” Angela was shaking her head, frowning ruefully.
  8. snarky
    rudely sarcastic and mocking in tone or manner
    Katherine opened her mouth, and Jonah could tell she was about to say something snarky and mean, like, “Wow—did you get fired after one day? Or were you just too lazy to go back for day two?”
  9. skepticism
    doubt about the truth of something
    “And, once again, you were the only one to see this?” Chip asked, making no effort to keep the skepticism out of his voice.
  10. delusional
    suffering from or characterized by erroneous beliefs
    She was the one who filled out the disability papers, saying I was delusional and prone to hallucinations and unfit to work at Sky Trails.
  11. confidentiality
    discretion in keeping secret information
    James Reardon wanted us all to sign confidentiality statements. But I refused.
  12. confirmation
    additional proof that something that was believed is correct
    I’ve been working on this for thirteen years, and it’s gotten me nothing but scorn and mockery. And I’ve gotten no confirmation—no sign that what I believe is true.
  13. debrief
    elicit a report from someone about a mission, job, or event
    “One thing I saw that nobody else did—though I did report it when I was debriefed, before they began talking about confidentiality statements—was an insignia on the plane."
  14. tenet
    a basic principle or belief that is accepted as true
    But he hadn’t understood how strange it would be, how it would set every nerve in his body on edge and make him question all sorts of basic tenets about how the world worked.
  15. paradox
    a statement that contradicts itself
    And there was some paradox he remembered hearing about, something about a grandmother—oh, yeah, time travel had to be impossible because, otherwise, you could go back in time and kill your own grandmother.
Created on Mon Nov 10 21:56:20 EST 2025 (updated Tue Dec 23 16:18:56 EST 2025)

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