Salt to the Sea: Chapter 34 (Joana)–Chapter 64 (Alfred)

by Ruta Sepetys
Through the alternating perspectives of four fictional teens, best-selling author Ruta Sepetys dramatizes the experiences of refugees searching for a safe haven during World War II. Learn key vocabulary from this engrossing historical novel based on a true story.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapter 1 (Joana)–Chapter 33 (Emilia), Chapter 34 (Joana)–Chapter 64 (Alfred), Chapter 65 (Joana)–Chapter 97 (Florian), Chapter 98 (Joana)–Chapter 131 (Emilia), Chapter 132 (Florian)–Author's Note
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. lurk
    lie in wait or behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
    Did war make us evil or just activate an evil already lurking within us?
  2. tragedy
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    I couldn’t afford to care about the girl. She was just another tragedy of war.
  3. aristocracy
    a privileged class holding hereditary titles
    Prussian Junkers didn’t quite blend with other Germans. “Junker” meant “young gentleman.” The Prussian aristocracy was serving in the German army, fighting for their land and titles.
  4. ideology
    an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group
    But some of their ideologies didn’t align with Hitler’s. Back in July, Prussians were involved in an assassination attempt on Hitler.
  5. amenities
    things that make you comfortable and at ease
    She was originally built for vacation cruising and has amenities I think you would enjoy, such as a pool, a formal dining room, a ballroom, and a library.
  6. promenade
    a public area set aside as a pedestrian walk
    the ship even has a movie theater, a music room, a beauty salon, and a promenade deck completely enclosed in glass.
  7. captivated
    filled with wonder and delight
    I was so eager, captivated by all the old paintings, staring at them for days until they confessed their secrets to me.
  8. restoration
    returning something or someone to a satisfactory state
    Dr. Lange was impressed with how quickly I could detect a repainting, fake, or touch-up. My restoration work always passed, completely undetected.
  9. casualty
    someone injured or killed in an accident
    Silver moonlight shimmered through a window, revealing a gray stuffed rabbit lying on a step above. One of its ears was missing. Poor bunny. Even toys were casualties of war.
  10. rummage
    search haphazardly
    The German rummaged through the cabinets, his pack near his feet.
  11. forlorn
    marked by or showing hopelessness
    But when she sat alone her face looked cheerless and forlorn, full of tears waiting patiently to fall.
  12. morbid
    suggesting the horror of death and decay
    The giant woman wouldn’t stop talking about it, describing the scene in morbid detail for the others.
  13. imminent
    close in time; about to occur
    The port, you see, is in imminent danger of attack by Allied planes.
  14. clog
    impede the motion of, as with a chain or a burden
    Where had they all come from? This endless stream of humanity clogging the small field road—did they suddenly crawl out of a hole?
  15. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    “Please, Magnus, hurry!” coaxed the little boy, thumping his heels into the ox.
  16. despondent
    without or almost without hope
    Some people were tired, despondent, others panicked and full of terror.
  17. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    My father’s words hung heavy on my conscience: “Don’t you see? Lange doesn’t want to train you—he wants to use you, Florian.”
  18. imposter
    a person who makes deceitful pretenses
    Is that how easily he’s duped you? This greedy imposter fills your head with rubbish and you become a traitor?
  19. demise
    the time when something ends
    So now I risked everything, confronting fate and the knowledge that I had authored my own demise.
  20. inconsolable
    sad beyond comforting
    Emilia was inconsolable, turning in all directions to find the German. She wailed and tried to leave.
  21. ward
    block forming a division of a hospital shared by patients
    “Everything must be removed to create space. Carry the furniture out onto the dock. Take the tablecloths up to the arbor on the sundeck. They’re organizing a hospital ward up there.”
  22. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    She was trying to be stoic, a medical woman, but I could tell that she was upset because the soldier hadn’t allowed her to help the injured on the road.
  23. chide
    scold or reprimand severely or angrily
    “Come on, Beck, use those skills to create some tickets,” chided Kurt.
  24. shard
    a broken piece of a brittle artifact
    “What’s wrong with your eyes, Fräulein?”
    “Glass shards from an explosion,” recited Ingrid.
  25. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
    Slowly, Ingrid’s gloved hand lifted, trembling, tentative.
  26. lament
    express grief verbally
    My Mutter always lamented my lack of friends in Heidelberg, but here each day I am introduced to someone new.
  27. coveted
    greatly desired
    Just today I met Eugen Jeissle, the ship's head printer, responsible for creating the boarding passes, the coveted pieces of paper that will allow passage to freedom.
  28. posterity
    all future generations
    When he left for the toilets I decided it would be best to take a stack of the passes for posterity.
  29. euphoria
    a feeling of great elation
    At times, to fuel his artistic euphoria, Dr. Lange would open a crate to admire a panel from the precious Amber Room, savoring the experience as others would enjoy a vintage bottle of brandy.
  30. perverse
    deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper
    It was greed and power that excited him in a perverse way.
  31. culmination
    a concluding action
    Packed into twenty-seven crates, the Amber Room was the culmination of Hitler's artistic dreams.
  32. cellar
    a room that is partly or wholly below ground level
    We dug a secret bunker deep beneath the castle and locked the crates inside. I then painted the stone floor above the cellar to look aged. The door to the cellar was undetectable.
  33. frantically
    in an uncontrolled manner
    Her hand bobbed and grasped frantically at the edge of the ice.
  34. brittle
    not annealed and consequently easily cracked or fractured
    The ice ached and groaned, like old bones carrying too many years, brittle and threatening to snap at any moment.
  35. lurch
    move abruptly
    My nerves lurched with each sound.
  36. centigrade
    temperature scale on which water freezes at 0 degrees
    Although it is minus ten degrees centigrade and the wind is howling, it is nice to breathe freely.
  37. dinghy
    a small boat of shallow draft
    I can see Hansa, merchant ships, old fishing boats, trawlers, and even dinghies that have brought fleeing people from the nearby lagoon.
  38. inoperable
    not able to perform its normal function
    Today I marked one of the toilets as inoperable.
  39. ingenuity
    the power of creative imagination
    I am quite confident that no one is aware of my ingenuity and objectives.
  40. commitment
    the act of binding yourself to a course of action
    War is full of duty and decision. You know I have made that commitment.
Created on Wed Jun 07 20:36:48 EDT 2017 (updated Tue Apr 09 14:22:54 EDT 2019)

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