I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011: Chapters 7–13

by Lauren Tarshis
In this eighth book of the historical fiction I Survived series, eleven-year-old Ben Kudo is visiting his uncle in the tiny fishing village of Shogahama, when he sees a huge wave coming toward him.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–13
30 words 58 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. froth
    make foam and become bubbly
    Ben turned, and what he saw almost stopped his heart:
    A frothing wall of water, rushing up the street.
  2. slab
    block consisting of a thick piece of something
    The wave carried parts of houses, a smashed car, an entire pine tree, slabs of wood and metal.
  3. devour
    destroy completely
    It was devouring everything in its path. Two men were running on the sidewalk. Ben gasped as the wave swallowed them whole.
  4. expression
    the feelings shown on a person's face
    At first Ben couldn’t read the expression on Mom’s face, because he’d never seen it before, not even in the days after Dad’s accident.
    Mom was scared.
  5. teeter
    move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
    And now Mom and Harry were about to fall out, too! The car door was swung wide open, and Mom and Harry teetered in the doorway.
  6. thrash
    move or stir about violently
    But the water was higher now, thrashing the car back and forth.
  7. gush
    flow forth in a sudden stream or jet
    Freezing water gushed in, surrounding Ben.
  8. formation
    an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit
    It took years to learn to be an F-16 pilot. And the training never ended. There were always new formations to learn, different drills to practice.
  9. fumble
    feel about uncertainly or blindly
    His hands fumbled blindly along the surfaces of the car. He tried to picture what he was feeling—the seat, the roof, the window.
  10. grope
    feel about uncertainly or blindly
    He groped until he found the steering wheel.
  11. bitter
    causing a sharp and acrid taste experience
    His mouth and nose were filled with the disgusting water. He spit and coughed and blew out his nose, trying to get rid of the bitter chemical taste.
  12. castaway
    a shipwrecked person
    Now Ben just drifted along, like a castaway in the middle of the sea.
  13. ragged
    being or dressed in clothes that are worn or torn
    At first Ben thought he was looking at a ragged stuffed animal.
  14. nuzzle
    gently rub or push one's nose or face against something
    Tears sprang into Ben’s eyes as Nya nuzzled him.
  15. hoist
    raise
    He hoisted himself up onto the mattress, and sat with his legs crossed.
  16. current
    a steady flow of a fluid or gas
    Dad and Ben had bodysurfed for hours, riding giant waves to shore. When the waves lost power, the water would get sucked back out to sea. The current was so powerful that Dad had to hold Ben so he didn’t get swept away.
  17. anchor
    fix firmly and stably
    She had her front paws on Ben, and her back claws still anchored to the tree.
  18. grit
    clench together
    But Ben gritted his teeth, and forced his icy fingers to cling to the tree.
  19. stench
    a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
    In its place was a sea of mud—knee-deep, black, and oily. There was a terrible smell—a rotten, poisonous stench—that burned Ben’s nose.
  20. guzzle
    drink greedily or as if with great thirst
    He finally glimpsed a can of some kind. It was fruit juice. He cleaned off the top and guzzled down half of it.
  21. drape
    arrange in a particular way
    Ben carefully draped Nya around his neck.
  22. trudge
    a long difficult walk
    This was where Ben and Nya had ended up last night after their endless trudge through the ruins—to this school on a hill.
  23. numb
    lacking sensation
    By then, he was so freezing cold that he was completely numb. His feet were bricks of ice. In Health class last year, he’d learned about what happens to a person when their body gets too cold. Their muscles stop working right.
  24. stagger
    walk with great difficulty
    He’d staggered in, a frozen ghost with a shivering cat around his neck.
  25. steady
    marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
    The mother was asleep, but the girl was awake, staring at Ben with steady, thoughtful eyes.
  26. patience
    good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
    “People are scattered everywhere. Have patience. You are safe here. And we will wait.”
  27. waver
    be unsure or weak
    Dad always looked so sure. And that look never wavered.
  28. subside
    sink to a lower level or form a depression
    They’d made it to the roof, waiting there with dozens of other people until the water subsided.
  29. particle
    a body having finite mass but negligible dimensions
    The quake and wave had damaged a nuclear power station in a place called Fukushima, about forty miles up the coast from Shogahama. Radioactive particles were leaking out of the power plant.
  30. radioactive
    exhibiting or caused by emissions in nuclear decay
    Even small amounts of radiation can make people very sick, especially children. People living close to the plant had to flee their homes. For a while, people worried that the radioactive cloud could spread to Shogahama—or beyond.
Created on Tue Oct 17 09:15:29 EDT 2023 (updated Wed Oct 18 13:16:46 EDT 2023)

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