Nory Ryan's Song: Chapters 5–12

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 22 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. fleck
    a small contrasting part of something
    I could see the flecks of gray in her blue eyes and count every one of her freckles, we were that close.
  2. tethered
    confined or restricted with or as if with a rope or chain
    We hurried home to see a brown horse tethered at the end of our path, and our door half open.
  3. tenant
    someone who pays rent to use property owned by someone else
    Potatoes or no potatoes, there will be rent to pay. Without the rent, the tenants will go, and the houses will be tumbled.
  4. tuber
    a fleshy underground stem or root, often used as food
    The potatoes grew strong, the leaves large and flat. I pictured roots swelling under the ground, the tubers round by now.
  5. billow
    rise up as if in waves
    Da with his blue eyes and his laugh like Maggie’s. Da on a ship, sails billowing.
  6. wail
    emit long loud cries
    I opened my mouth to tell her what had happened. But a sound came from the distance. Someone in the valley had wailed. Someone with a high thin voice.
  7. swivel
    turn on a pivot
    I swiveled around, the milk sloshing over the edge of the pail. “What was that?”
  8. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    Anna hobbled out, going around to the small field of potatoes that wandered up the hill in back.
  9. famine
    a severe shortage of food resulting in starvation and death
    Think about …
    Stories of famine, people dying in their houses. Da’s little brother. A boy like Patch.
    Please let the potatoes be all right.
  10. fuchsia
    a tropical shrub with showy drooping flowers
    Anna leaned over me, leaned so close that I could smell … what was it? A lovely smell. The smell of spring, or fuchsia growing along the walls in August.
  11. plume
    anything that resembles a feather in shape or lightness
    When I glanced back, she was looking up at Anna, tail waving like a plume of wheat in the wind.
  12. grudgingly
    in a reluctant manner
    “Lovely,” I said a little grudgingly.
  13. nettle
    plant having stinging hairs that cause skin irritation
    She nodded. “Come with me now. We will gather nettles and dandelion leaves.”
  14. dreadful
    exceptionally bad or displeasing
    In front of our eyes, the bubbling water turned dark and the same dreadful smell from the fields was on us.
  15. kestrel
    a small falcon that hovers in the air against the wind
    As we went down, the cliffs in back of us rose higher and higher, and the gannets and kestrels wheeled and dipped.
Created on Fri Dec 12 21:07:07 EST 2025 (updated Tue Jan 27 11:05:33 EST 2026)

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