Kaleidoscope: Part Three

by Brian Selznick
Through an intricate series of short stories that span time and space, a young boy grieves over the death of his best friend, James, while remembering the happy times they spent together.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part One, Part Two, Part Three
20 words 12 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. concrete
    a strong hard building material made with gravel and cement
    I always waited for him at the top of the three concrete steps leading up to the unused door at the back of the school.
  2. coincidence
    an accidental event that seems to have been arranged
    That night, for the first time in a long time, I had no nightmares. Instead, there were gardens, and an old house I loved, and someone's hand gently holding mine as we floated off to sea. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but I think James's invention worked.
  3. practically
    almost; nearly
    The next day, we both went through our houses, practically turning everything upside down. We searched at school too, getting down on our hands and knees, saying we'd dropped our pencils, but the key was gone.
  4. grieve
    feel intense sorrow, especially due to a loss
    Written on each stone was the fading name of what must have been a classroom pet. I imagined a long parade of grieving children walking to this spot, shoeboxes in hand, to bury in the ground the little friends they'd loved.
  5. shaft
    a column of light
    A shaft of light appeared through the trees.
  6. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    I was mesmerized even though what I was looking at made no sense.
  7. resume
    take up or begin anew
    Then, like a switch had been flipped, all the lights vanished. After a moment, the sounds of the insects and birds resumed.
  8. aurora
    bands of light caused by charged solar particles
    The pastor, of course, and a lot of the old people at church think it's angels. The scientific ones think it's a natural phenomenon, like the aurora borealis.
  9. phenomenon
    any state or process known through the senses
    "Sometimes I think they’re angels. And sometimes I think they’re Martians. And sometimes I think they are some kind of natural phenomenon, but..."
  10. illusion
    an erroneous mental representation
    If I hadn't known better, I might have mistaken the grass for a misty sea. I was afraid if I looked away, the watery illusion would be broken, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to explain to the boy what I was seeing.
  11. flail
    thrash about
    I kicked my legs and flailed my arms, but I was facedown against the carpet, overpowered by whatever giant thing was fighting me.
  12. mechanism
    device consisting of a piece of machinery
    The mechanism to open the heavy curtains in our school auditorium had broken long ago, so the fluorescent lights were always on.
  13. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    I imagined the roots unfurling and spreading through what was left of the burlap, growing outward into the soil, taking hold in the earth like arms.
  14. disrepair
    the state of being in poor or damaged condition
    Their house remained unsold for a long time and it soon fell into disrepair.
  15. circulate
    become widely known and passed on
    Stories began circulating through town that someone could be seen in a window at night, when the moon was full.
  16. splinter
    divide or break into slivers or fragments
    It was the strangest feeling, like James himself was splintering, fragmenting, dissolving.
  17. ember
    a hot, smoldering fragment of wood left from a fire
    The sparks rose up into the sky and paused midair until there were moments when I couldn't tell the difference between the burning embers and the stars. But the embers always fell back to earth, or went out, while the stars remained undimmed.
  18. simulate
    reproduce someone's behavior or looks
    We have lights that simulate the golden-yellow rays of the sun, and portals through which we can see the stars, but time doesn't really work out here.
  19. famine
    a severe shortage of food resulting in starvation and death
    There was war and famine and flooding.
  20. expedition
    a journey organized for a particular purpose
    The expedition I am on will take many generations to complete. We are like migrating butterflies. There will be babies born on this ship who will never know the beginning of the journey, or the end.
Created on Fri May 13 14:10:08 EDT 2022 (updated Mon May 23 09:07:12 EDT 2022)

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