The Light in Hidden Places: Chapters 1–5

by Sharon Cameron
Based on a true World War II story, this novel details how, as a teenager, Stefania Podgórska managed to take care of her younger sister, while hiding and supporting Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–8, Chapters 9–15, Chapters 16–22, Chapters 23–30
35 words 58 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. glare
    shine intensely
    The streetlights glare, hard bits of snow glinting like dust as they fall through the light.
  2. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    And I hated the irritating and incessant cluck, cluck, cluck of our chickens.
  3. bleat
    cry plaintively like a sheep or goat
    Wagons rumbling by on the paving stones, automobile horns bleating like sheep.
  4. clamor
    loud and persistent outcry from many people
    And the clamor of the farmwives shouting the prices of their goods in the square was so much nicer than chickens.
  5. bolster
    support and strengthen
    I had a whispered conversation with my sisters, bolstered by the letter I’d sent the month before.
  6. dither
    be undecided or uncertain
    “But, Fusia, what about your education?” dithered my mother.
  7. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    I clutched my clipboard to my chest and flushed. I had been singing. To myself. Like a little girl.
  8. jostle
    make one's way by pushing or shoving
    Laughter burst out from behind my back, and I held in my smile while arms jostled one another and feet ran out the door, setting the shop bell tinkling.
  9. parcel
    a wrapped package
    I swept the floors and wrapped parcels and dusted the shelves, and Mrs. Diamant said I was a quick learner.
  10. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    That afternoon, I coaxed Mrs. Diamant down from her chair and into the exercises I’d seen the students doing outside the gymnasium.
  11. blare
    make a loud noise
    I pinned my hair into curls and borrowed my sister’s lip rouge, humming while the radio blared the news that Germany had invaded Czechoslovakia.
  12. rosary
    a string of beads used in counting prayers
    I propped my picture of Christ and the Virgin on one wall and hung my rosary on the bedpost, and Mrs. Diamant kept a secret stash of blintzes under my bed, because Mr. Diamant didn’t eat during Yom Kippur.
  13. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    Izio would come to me at the windowsill, sprawling in a chair or hands behind his head on the rug.
  14. mortar
    a substance used as a bond in masonry or for covering a wall
    And then the hotel on the corner exploded in a cloud of mortar dust and fire.
  15. threshold
    the entrance for passing through a room or building
    I darted through the tunnel alley that ran between the buildings at Mickiewicza 7, into the courtyard, and as soon as my feet crossed the threshold of the Diamants’ apartment building, Izio was there, half pulling, half carrying me to the cellar.
  16. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Zbyszek stood next to his father, hands behind his back, studying the ceiling, and I could see that Mrs. Diamant and Izio had both sidled nearer, listening while pretending not to.
  17. fringe
    an ornamental border of short lengths of hanging threads
    I swung my feet from the sill to the fringes of the rug.
  18. artillery
    large but transportable armament
    When the sun was halfway across the sky, the bombs and the artillery shells went quiet, and I heard the machine guns come, faint, then closer, jeeps driving fast past our building.
  19. dole out
    distribute or dispense, as in small portions
    By the time I got the money doled out, the boys were dressed and Mrs. Diamant was stuffing empty bottles into knapsacks, because there was no water coming from the pipes.
  20. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    We hobbled into the village of Nizankowice near midnight, and I knocked on the door of Mrs. Nowak, the Catholic woman who had been boarding Max during the week while he worked with Dr. Schillinger.
  21. bureau
    furniture with drawers for keeping clothes
    There were dirty shoes in the corner, medical books beside the bed, pictures on the bureau.
  22. raucous
    disturbing the public peace; loud and rough
    Two men were taking turns standing on a crate, shouting over the noise of a raucous crowd.
  23. yarmulke
    a skullcap worn by religious Jews, especially at prayer
    We watched boys in their yarmulkes scrubbing the streets beneath the eye of a German machine gun.
  24. oppressive
    weighing heavily on the senses or spirit
    Somehow, the air felt like winter long before the cold came. Oppressive. Dark.
  25. bluster
    be gusty, as of wind
    Rain blew and streaked down the window glass, and when Mrs. Diamant blustered back into the apartment, I hurried to meet her.
  26. provision
    the activity of supplying something
    Your Führer will allow you to donate what you will not need for the provision of the German Army.
  27. affidavit
    written declaration made under oath
    Then perhaps there was someone who had known me since birth. Someone who could sign an affidavit swearing to my name and nationality and religion.
  28. tarnish
    make or become dirty or dull, as by exposure to air
    I went through the box of things to sell and settled on a silk blouse long since too small for Mrs. Diamant and a set of silver candlesticks the SS hadn’t found because they’d been so tarnished in the back of a cabinet.
  29. haggle
    wrangle, as over a price or terms of an agreement
    I spent half the morning haggling at the market and the secondhand shops and came out with one chicken, a sack of coarse flour, half a kilo of butter, three dozen eggs, and some change to stuff up the stovepipe.
  30. coarse
    of low or inferior quality or value
    I spent half the morning haggling at the market and the secondhand shops and came out with one chicken, a sack of coarse flour, half a kilo of butter, three dozen eggs, and some change to stuff up the stovepipe.
  31. dispassionate
    unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice
    And three old men with black coats, white armbands, and sidelocks sat on the stoop of the opposite building, staring dispassionately at me from across the street.
  32. squall
    utter a sudden loud cry
    There were babies squalling, children yelling and fussing, and it smelled like the toilets had overflowed.
  33. wisp
    a thin tuft, piece, or amount of something
    And there was my babcia, hurrying down the hallway, wisps of gray hair floating beside her cheeks.
  34. meek
    evidencing little spirit or courage
    I felt ashamed. Maybe I had been reckless. If I got myself killed, maybe they would starve. I opened my purse, meek, and Mrs. Diamant stared down at the squashed butter and the eggs.
  35. gentile
    a Christian as contrasted with a Jew
    “You’re the Gentile of the family, isn’t that right?”
Created on Wed Nov 30 12:10:57 EST 2022 (updated Thu Feb 02 16:16:02 EST 2023)

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