When You Reach Me: Things You Keep In A Box–Things That Crack

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Things You Keep in a Box–Things That Stain

When You Reach Me: Things You Keep in a Box–Things That Stain by Rebecca Stead

After a fight with her best friend, Miranda starts receiving mysterious letters from a person who can predict the future — and who warns Miranda that someone is going to die. Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4 Here are links to our lists for other works by Rebecca Stead: Liar & Spy, Goodbye Stranger

14 words 2787 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes in list order from A to Z from Z to A from easy to hard from hard to easy

obstruct shut out from view Unlike me, Mom has glossy red hair that bounces around and might obstruct America’s view of her small freckled face.
scrawl write carelessly And then there’s the date she’s supposed to show up, scrawled in blue pen on a line at the bottom of the card: April 27,1979.
omen a sign of a thing about to happen Mom wonders if that’s a good omen.
fundamental serving as an essential component After-school junk food is another fundamental right of the latchkey child.
nasal sounding as if the nose were pinched While she listened, Belle made me a turkey sandwich and gave me about ten chewable vitamin Cs because she thought I sounded nasal.
repulsive offensive to the mind or senses When she finally got there, Mom hugged Belle and told her, “I owe you,” like I was some repulsive burden instead of the person who had very helpfully unpacked three boxes of green bananas and scoured the refrigerated section for expired dairy items.
scour examine minutely When she finally got there, Mom hugged Belle and told her, “I owe you,” like I was some repulsive burden instead of the person who had very helpfully unpacked three boxes of green bananas and scoured the refrigerated section for expired dairy items.
prosecutor an official conducting criminal cases on behalf of the state Robbie B.’s dad is a prosecutor.
paralegal a person with specialized training who assists lawyers Now she’s a paralegal, except she works at a really small law office where she has to be the receptionist and the secretary too.
nozzle a projecting spout from which a fluid is discharged So after dinner we hid our spare key inside the nozzle of the dusty, folded-up fire hose in the stairwell.
swivel turn on a pivot Then the little screens swivel around, and it’s the celebrities’ turn to give the clues and the contestants’ turn to guess.
shorthand a method of writing rapidly Once a month, the neighbors sit in our living room and complain while Mom takes notes in shorthand.
hitch a knot that can be undone by pulling against it Now I can make every knot he knows, even the clove hitch, which I did backward for a few months before I got it right.
salute a formal military gesture of respect He was on our corner, marching around in a circle and doing some salutes.

Created on Thu Sep 19 12:44:19 EDT 2013 (updated Wed Jun 25 12:52:23 EDT 2025)

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