I Will Always Write Back: Parts 4–5

by Caitlin Alifirenka, Martin Ganda
In 1997, an American girl and a Zimbabwean boy became pen pals, ultimately developing a friendship that would change both of their lives. In this memoir, they tell their story.

Here are links to our lists for the memoir: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Parts 4–5, Part 6–Epilogue
15 words 272 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. levy
    a charge imposed and collected
    If possible I am kindly asking you to help me with my levy and fees since they are now more expensive and I need to buy some textbooks to supplement those at school.
  2. blase
    uninterested because of frequent exposure or indulgence
    They appeared blase about this place, like they expected life to be this way.
  3. spigot
    a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid
    I turned on the spigot and laughed out loud when warm water came rushing out.
  4. formidable
    extremely impressive in strength or excellence
    As soon as everyone was dismissed, I went looking for this formidable man.
  5. paraphernalia
    equipment consisting of miscellaneous articles
    I knew better than to bring...any paraphernalia into my house, but I thought it was cool that Damon could.
  6. verbatim
    using exactly the same words
    I soaked every word up, and wrote each one down verbatim.
  7. flabbergasted
    as if struck dumb with astonishment and surprise
    I was flabbergasted. My grandmother had pills that could save Martin's mother's life.
  8. maelstrom
    a powerful circular current of water
    I kept quiet, but there was a maelstrom forming in my chest.
  9. abet
    assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing
    The US was targeting any nation that abetted terrorists—that included my country.
  10. missive
    a written message addressed to a person or organization
    Our missives had crossed somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, I thought as I ripped open the envelope.
  11. prerequisite
    something that is needed or obligatory in advance
    “Montgomery County Community College offers all the prerequisite classes for a nursing degree,” she said.
  12. humble
    marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful
    Despite his family's wealth, Wallace was humble, not showy like so many of our other classmates.
  13. alma mater
    a school you graduated from
    She decided to start with Gwynedd Mercy, her alma mater.
  14. rebuff
    reject outright and bluntly
    So she was particularly upset to learn earlier that week that Gwynedd Mercy rebuffed her request.
  15. actuarial
    relating to statistics to calculate insurance premiums
    I loved numbers, and was good at them. And so I decided to pursue actuarial science.
Created on Sat Aug 11 20:44:17 EDT 2018 (updated Thu Jun 26 13:32:14 EDT 2025)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.