Category: Available For Free (Open Access)

A Pair of Blue Eyes

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A Pair of Blue Eyes is a classic novel from the 19th century that deals with the topics of love, jealousy and personal development. It also gives you an insight on how society worked during the Victorian Age. The story follows the young and innocent Elfride, who struggles with her ambition and emotions after falling in love with two men of different backgrounds. The language level is hard to understand and the sentence structure is often sophisticated, but therefore each moment is described in great detail.

Year of Release: 1873

Author(s): Thomas Hardy

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Online text: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/224

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Tags Class struggles, Jealousy, Realism, romance, Thomas Hardy, Victorian Age

1800s and before All Available For Free (Open Access) CEFR C1 English Extensive Length (more than 8 hrs) Fiction High school (grades 9+) Novel Online Print

Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Post author By BRG Körösi
Post date 19 February 2023
No Comments on Tess of the d’Urbervilles

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Tom Hardy portrays the tragic life of the young woman Tess, the difficulties a girl like her had in the 20th century, and her struggles to find happiness in the twisted society she lived in. If you won’t get frustrated too quickly and are interested in the unfairness heroines had to face back then, this book might be the perfect read for you. Go on and dive into the beautifully and realistically described English countryside.

Year of Release: 1893

Author(s): Thomas Hardy

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Online text: https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/110

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Tags 20th century, London, Love story, Moral ambiguity, Role of Women, Social classes, Tragic, Victorian Age, Womanhood

1800s and before All Audiobook Available For Free (Open Access) eBook English Fiction High school (grades 9+) Medium Length (up to 8 hrs) Novel Online Physical Format Print

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Post author By gaia zerb
Post date 4 May 2022
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It’s the story of a beautiful boy called Dorian Gray that since the day his friend Basil painted his portrait, gained ethernal youth and beauty. Over the years his appearance remained young and innocent while the portrait showed the signs of his evil deeds changing after every crime he committed.

Year of Release: 1890

Author(s): Oscar WIlde

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Further information (link): https://openlibrary.org/books/OL24216682M/The_picture_of_Dorian_Gray

ISBN: -10: 0141439572 -13: 978-0141439570

ebook URL: https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Dorian-Gray-Biographical-Introduction-ebook/dp/B000FC1CUA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=G2V33V758LPZ&keywords=the+picture+of+dorian+gray&qid=1651685859&s=books&sprefix=the+picture+of+do%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C4280&sr=1-1

Audiobook URL: https://www.amazon.com/The-Picture-of-Dorian-Gray/dp/B09VYGHCZL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=G2V33V758LPZ&keywords=the+picture+of+dorian+gray&qid=1651685821&s=books&sprefix=the+picture+of+do%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C4280&sr=1-1

Online text: https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/the-picture-of-dorian-gray.pdf

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Tags classic, fiction, mental health, mystery, philosophy

2020-today All Available For Free (Open Access) English High school (grades 9+) Online Poetry Print Very Short Length (up to 20 min)

The Hill We Climb

An inaugural poem for the country

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Drawing inspiration from other political and motivational speeches, the poem depict the U.S. as a nation with both struggles and strengths, and argues that progress doesn’t happen overnight, but rather requires patience and hard work.

Year of Release: 2021

Author(s): Amanda Gorman

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Further information (link): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56914101-the-hill-we-climb?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=F8asmHMbY6&rank=1

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Online text: http://contentmanager.med.uvm.edu/docs/the_hill_we_climb/vccyf-documents/the_hill_we_climb.pdf?sfvrsn=44a33335_2

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Tags belonging, empowerment, generations, motivational

1946-1999 All Available For Free (Open Access) eBook English Extracts - Well Suited for Teaching With Extracts High school (grades 9+) Online Other Text Formats Print

The Freedom Writers Diary

Post author By Elisa Da Lio
Post date 10 December 2021
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How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them

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A young English teacher works with “at-risk” students who deal with hostility and racial intolerance on a daily basis. After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, they start to work on an joint diary with anonimuos entries aimed against intolerance and misunderstanding.

Year of Release: 1999

Author(s): Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers

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Further information (link): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47304.The_Freedom_Writers_Diary?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=aiWr9Tk00l&rank=3

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ebook URL: https://www.amazon.it/Freedom-Writers-Diary-Movie-Tie-ebook/dp/B000Q9J092/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_it_IT=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=the+freedom+writers+diary&qid=1639159066&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Audiobook URL:

Online text: https://oiipdf.com/download/the-freedom-writers-diary-how-a-teacher-and-150-teens-used-writing-to-change-themselves-and-the-world-around-them

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Tags cultural identity, discrimination, education, identiity, race, racial injustices

2010-2019 All Available For Free (Open Access) eBook English High school (grades 9+) Novel Online Print

Pride

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Contemporary retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice starring characters of colour. Zuri and her four sisters try and hold onto their cultural identity as they adjust to their rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, circumstance which is highlighted by the wealthy Darcy family moving in right across the street.

Year of Release: 2018

Author(s): Ibi Zoboi

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Further information (link): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35068632-pride?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=wEFTKZDcub&rank=1

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ebook URL: https://www.amazon.it/Pride-English-Ibi-Zoboi-ebook/dp/B0727TNDX8/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_it_IT=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=Pride+ibi+zoboi&qid=1639073648&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

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Online text: https://booksvooks.com/fullbook/pride-pdf-ibi-zoboi.html?page=1

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Also available here https://booktree.ng/pride-by-ibi-zoboi-pdf/

Tags blackness, class, coming of age, cultural identity, diversity, equality, teenage relationship

2010-2019 All Available For Free (Open Access) CEFR B1 High school (grades 9+) Online Poetry Print Uncategorized Very Short Length (up to 20 min)

Masks

Post author By Réka
Post date 7 November 2021
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A very short poem about feeling different and about the importance of being your true self. Illustrated by the author.

(From the volume: Everything On It)

Year of Release: 2011

Author(s): Shel Silverstein

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ISBN: ISBN 10: 0061998168ISBN 13: 9780061998164

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Online text: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/masks?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_fVtRlDijt2OPs4sH9XwMt8X6ajdtb.fLhmMrXjgrynw-1634156927-0-gqNtZGzNAjujcnBszQhl

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https://www.commonlit.org/texts/masks?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_fVtRlDijt2OPs4sH9XwMt8X6ajdtb.fLhmMrXjgrynw-1634156927-0-gqNtZGzNAjujcnBszQhl

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The language of this poem is very simple, but you may want to use it as a starting point for discussions that go far beyond B1 level.

Tags fitting in, identity

2010-2019 All Available For Free (Open Access) CEFR B2 High school (grades 9+) Online Poetry Very Short Length (up to 20 min)

Panama

Post author By Monika
Post date 1 November 2021
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Poem about a person migrating to a country where years later he forgot his mother tongue and all the memories he had of his homeland.

Year of Release: 2014

Author(s): Ethelbert Miller

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Further information (link): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/e-ethelbert-miller

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Online text: https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/panama-3

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The poem is easy, it has very simple language. More poems by Ethelbert Miller:
Other poems also by Ethelbert Miller: https://www.poemhunter.com/eugene-ethelbert-miller/poems/

Tags immigration, language, memory, mother tongue

2020-today All Available For Free (Open Access) CEFR B2 High school (grades 9+) Online Poetry Very Short Length (up to 20 min)

The Ladder

The poem tells about the poet’s Irish immigrant ancestors. The images of old clothes and long forgotten personal belongings bring ancestral stories back to the poet.

Year of Release: 2020

Author(s): Campbell McGrath

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Online text: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/20/the-ladder

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Tags family history, generations, remembering

2000-2009 All Audiobook Available For Free (Open Access) CEFR B2 eBook Extensive Length (more than 8 hrs) Extracts - Well Suited for Teaching With Extracts High school (grades 9+) Novel Online Print

The Secret Life of Bees

Lily Owens lives with her abusive father and has trouble remembering what happened to her mother. When she finds the mysterious Black Mary picture, she feels she needs to investigate her past to come to terms with her unrecognized trauma. She and their maid, Rosaleen, leave her father and try to find a new place to live. They meet the Boatwright sisters who invite Lily and Rosaleen to stay.

Year of Release: 2002

Author(s): Sue Monk Kidd

Preview: https://suemonkkidd.com/books/the-secret-life-of-bees/

Further information (link): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37435.The_Secret_Life_of_Bees?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=pV4wphzdD0&rank=1

ISBN: 13: 978-0142001745

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Online text: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2941508W/The_secret_life_of_bees?edition=ia%3Asecretlifeofbees00kidd_0

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The film adaptation of the novel came out in 2008.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY9RvcbzTCw
IMDB site: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416212/

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Tags childhood trauma, nature, racism, religion