Girl in the Blue Coat: Chapters 7–10

by Monica Hesse
As World War II rages, Hanneke is hired to find a Jewish teenager who disappeared from the house in which she was hiding. In the course of her search, Hanneke is drawn into the Dutch resistance movement secretly fighting the Nazis.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 6, Chapters 7–10, Chapters 11–18, Chapters 19–25, Chapters 26–34
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. pedestrian
    lacking wit or imagination
    Her worries are so pedestrian, so soothing in an absurd way, like a holiday from all the things that real people have to care about.
  2. mauve
    of a pale to moderate grayish violet color
    I'm in a mauve wool dress that I inherited from Elsbeth, which fits me well but is such a regretful color that she and I used to call it the Tonsil.
  3. relent
    give in, as to influence or pressure
    "Ollie, are you going to introduce me to the other people in the room, or should I sit mutely in the corner and try to refrain from breathing?”
    He grimaces, then relents, turning toward the other two boys.
  4. doppelganger
    a person who is almost identical to another
    Willem is the Dutch version of William, just like his American movie star doppelgänger.
  5. earnest
    devout or heartfelt
    Usually I'd be put off by a friend of Ollie's presuming to know anything about Bas, but Willem's face is too earnest not to like.
  6. infinitesimal
    immeasurably small
    His shoulders are hunched up around his ears so his strawberry hair disappears into his collar, and the infinitesimal tilt of his head tells me he’s been listening to everything we’ve said.
  7. plausible
    apparently reasonable, valid, or truthful
    "It can be my birthday,” Leo says. "It really is next week, so it's plausible.”
  8. liaison
    a means of communication between groups
    As the Jewish leadership appointed to be liaisons with the Nazis, they communicate German orders and have a little more freedom than other Jews.
  9. lax
    without rigor or strictness
    Are the soldiers stationed in Utrecht more or less lax than the ones here in Amsterdam?
  10. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    "'Work camps'?" Judith scoffs at my description. "You make it sound as if Jews are just going to a job. You have no idea, the sadistic things we've heard about those camps."
  11. sadistic
    deriving pleasure from inflicting pain on another
    "'Work camps'?" Judith scoffs at my description. "You make it sound as if Jews are just going to a job. You have no idea, the sadistic things we've heard about those camps."
  12. inadvertently
    without knowledge or intention
    This discussion about taking ration cards to the theater has inadvertently led back to my reason for being here tonight.
  13. elude
    escape, either physically or mentally
    Could a fifteen-year-old girl manage to elude capture on the streets for forty-eight hours?
  14. deplore
    express strong disapproval of
    If Judith was a soldier, now is when I would lower my eyes and talk softly about how she was right and I couldn't possibly understand any of it. But Judith’s not a soldier. She probably deplores sycophants.
  15. sycophant
    a person who tries to please someone to gain an advantage
    If Judith was a soldier, now is when I would lower my eyes and talk softly about how she was right and I couldn't possibly understand any of it. But Judith’s not a soldier. She probably deplores sycophants.
  16. specter
    a ghostly appearing figure
    Some twisted part of me maybe believed that Mirjam Roodveldt was a specter created by Mrs. Janssen. But she is real.
  17. shrewd
    marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
    "Why do you care so much about her?" Judith looks at me shrewdly.
  18. petulant
    easily irritated or annoyed
    I try to hide my disappointment; it was kind of Judith to bring this for me, and I don’t want to seem more petulant than I already did earlier in the meeting.
  19. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    It's a sullen, vindictive cold outside, colder than it's been in months, and my breath vaporizes as we hurry along the canal.
  20. vindictive
    showing malicious ill will and a desire to hurt
    It's a sullen, vindictive cold outside, colder than it's been in months, and my breath vaporizes as we hurry along the canal.
  21. cavalier
    showing a lack of concern or seriousness
    He's so smug with his half explanations, and so cavalier about the fact that he's dragged me into this.
  22. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    "Don't you think rule-followers are the best people to organize against the Nazis? It's not all daring rescues and explosions. It's a lot of tedious paperwork."
  23. sprawling
    spreading out in different directions
    It's huge and sprawling, an endless hole of needs that would swallow me whole.
  24. altruistic
    showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others
    “Judith already made me feel guilty. She made it clear how altruistic the rest of you are. I'm not.”
  25. gait
    a person's manner of walking
    Beside me, Ollie's gait is relaxed, but his upper body looks tense, and we speak to each other in gestures while ignoring the shouting I can still hear from a few blocks over.
  26. guffaw
    laugh boisterously
    "I do know you," he guffaws.
  27. lascivious
    driven by lust
    Ollie winks at me meaningfully, lasciviously. “Maybe we should get home, my soon-to-be wife."
  28. excursion
    a journey taken for pleasure
    My mother is gone this afternoon, a rare excursion into the outside world to visit her sister in the country.
  29. brazen
    not held back by conventional ideas of behavior
    There used to be a group of us. Bas the ringleader. Elsbeth the brazen. Me, part of the inner circle but not quite as audacious, not as sparkling.
  30. audacious
    not held back by conventional ideas of behavior
    There used to be a group of us. Bas the ringleader. Elsbeth the brazen. Me, part of the inner circle but not quite as audacious, not as sparkling.
  31. askew
    turned or twisted to one side
    But if you could turn the lights back on, you would see there are lots of other things still wrong in the room. The dishes are dirty. There is mold in the sink. The rug is askew.
  32. conspiratorial
    relating to or characteristic of a secret plot or agreement
    They exchange glances with each other; one of them is about to refuse me—I can see it in his body language—so I lean in conspiratorially and lower my voice.
  33. fanaticism
    excessive intolerance of opposing views
    I can only hope these two particular guards subscribe to the antigerm fanaticism that the Nazis are well known for.
  34. stifle
    conceal or hide
    "Be quick," he says, and I do my best to look purposeful while stifling my pride over talking my way past them.
  35. disorienting
    causing loss of physical or intellectual bearings
    "I can’t," I begin, but I feel more people pressing in, more voices asking for help; it's confusing and disorienting and everyone's faces are dark and shadowed.
  36. bassinet
    a basket (usually hooded) used as a baby's bed
    Judith leads us to a room that looks like a traditional hospital nursery, bassinets filled with sleeping or fussing babies.
  37. willowy
    slender and graceful
    Mina is short and compact to Judith’s willowy height, but they have the same teeth and the same brilliant eyes.
  38. exuberant
    joyously unrestrained
    She's so...I search for the right word. Exuberant. Earnest and exuberant, like the world is full of possibilities.
  39. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
    "That she was smart. Top of the class. Maybe a little competitive."
    "Now, that's an understatement. She was completely preoccupied with grades. I think it was her parents, though. They gave her rewards for good grades. On her own, I didn't get the impression she would have cared."
  40. monstrosity
    something hideous or frightful
    Mirjam showed us a postcard once of Amalia’s aunt's hotel—some sea-green monstrosity she owned in Kijkduin.
Created on Fri Jul 12 10:56:57 EDT 2019 (updated Tue Jul 30 13:14:46 EDT 2019)

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