Nory Ryan's Song: Chapters 1–4

by Patricia Reilly Giff
Twelve-year-old Nory Ryan's family are poor tenant farmers on Ireland's west coast. When a potato blight sweeps through the village threatening their survival, Nory has to summon the inner strength and ingenuity to keep the family alive.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–12, Chapters 13–24
15 words 106 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. patter
    make light, rapid and repeated sounds
    I loved the sound of my voice in the fog, but then I loved anything that had to do with music: the Ballilee church bells tolling, the rain pattering on the stones, even the carra-crack of the gannets calling as they flew overhead.
  2. wend
    direct one's course or way
    People with money threw in coins for prayers. But the well was endlessly deep, wending its way down through the cliffs toward the sea, and it took ages for coins to sink to the bottom.
  3. tattered
    worn to shreds; or wearing torn or ragged clothing
    People tied their prayers to the branches: a piece of tattered skirt, the edge of a collar.
  4. gape
    look with amazement
    Every creature who walked by would be gaping at it.
  5. glen
    a narrow secluded valley (in the mountains)
    I stood up quickly, moving around to the other side of the well to look down at our glen.
  6. bailiff
    officer of the court employed to execute writs and processes
    “Sean,” I said, “what’s happening down there?”
    Absently he tore the last bit of dulse in two. “Men,” he said slowly. “Bailiffs with a battering ram. Someone is being put out of a house.”
  7. thatch
    plant stalks used as roofing material
    The thatch on her roof was old and plants grew green over the top.
  8. hearth
    a built-in space in a wall where a fire can be built
    They’d tear down the roof of the Neely house and pound at the beam until it splintered in over the hearth.
  9. beau
    a man with whom one has a romantic relationship
    Mallon, my sister Maggie’s beau, was sitting on a stone wall, his face dark with anger, staring at Devlin the agent.
  10. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    I rested my head on her matted fur, thinking.
  11. rafter
    one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
    “Where is the fishing net?” I looked at the rafters. “The one for fresh water.”
  12. mottled
    having spots or patches of color
    “We’re going to Cunningham’s stream,” I told her, feeling a jump in my throat, picturing Cunningham’s face, red and mottled from too much mutton.
  13. hovel
    small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    I had wondered where the filthy hovels were. I had wondered about the filthy people. And then I knew. I was one of the filthy people who lived in a filthy hovel.
  14. veer
    turn sharply; change direction abruptly
    A small, silvery school of fish came, veering away from Sean’s net, around the rocks, and caught by mine.
  15. heave
    lift or elevate
    At last I heaved myself over the top and reached back to help him.
Created on Fri Dec 12 21:02:07 EST 2025 (updated Tue Jan 27 10:47:02 EST 2026)

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