Category: 2010-2019

Categories
2010-2019 All Audiobook CEFR B1 CEFR B2 eBook English Extensive Length (more than 8 hrs) High school (grades 9+) LGBTQI* Novel Physical Format Print

What if it’s us

This romantic comedy novel published by Becky Albertalli and Adam Sivera depicts the stories of the two very different boys Arthur and Ben whose lives seem to collide and be pushed apart at the same time.

Year of Release: 2019

Author(s): Becky Albertalli, Adam Sivera

Preview: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36341204-what-if-it-s-us

Further information (link):

ISBN: 0062795252

ebook URL: https://www.amazon.de/What-If-Its-Us-English-ebook/dp/B07B3LJ6QT/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Audiobook URL: https://www.amazon.de/What-If-Its-Us/dp/B07F3ZTB4F/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Online text:

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

Further comments for teachers:

Categories
2010-2019 All High school (grades 9+) LGBTQI*

With the Fire on High

The book tells the story of seventeen-year-old Emon’s life as a teenage mother living with her grandmother dealing with difficult decisions. Keeping her head down at school, trying not to get caught up with new boy Malachi and managing her small family’s life are daily tasks for the young woman. In order to manage them, the kitchen becomes the one place where she can let everything go and where the magic happens.

Year of Release: 2019

Author(s): Elizabeth Acevedo

Preview: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38739562-with-the-fire-on-high

Further information (link):

ISBN: 006266283X

ebook URL: https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B079WW2QKM/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Audiobook URL: https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B07MWDPBK6/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Online text:

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

Further comments for teachers:

Categories
2010-2019 All Audiobook CEFR B1 CEFR B2 eBook English Extensive Length (more than 8 hrs) High school (grades 9+) Novel Print

We Set the Dark on Fire

As a young adult version of Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, We Set the Dark on Fire mirrors real world issues of immigration and equality by describing the Medio School of Girls, an institute that trains distinguished young women for the roles in their dystopian society. Depending on the girl’s quality, she will either ran a husband’s household or take care of his children. The book traces Daniela’s story at the school and brings pressing questions of gender equality, diversity, sexuality, and immigration to the forefront.

Year of Release: 2019

Author(s): Tehlor Kay Meija

Preview: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37868569-we-set-the-dark-on-fire

Further information (link):

ISBN: 0062691325

ebook URL: https://www.amazon.de/We-Set-Dark-Fire-English-ebook/dp/B078R3DFK3

Audiobook URL: https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B07N7M3RY4/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Online text:

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

Further comments for teachers:

As part of a series, they could be used as a sole set of texts for teaching throughout a semester. Level of English is B1-B2+.

Categories
2010-2019 All CEFR A2 CEFR B1 CEFR B2 Date of publication Extracts - Well Suited for Teaching With Extracts High school (grades 9+) Language Level Length Other Text Formats Physical Format Print Short Length (up to 2 hrs) Text Format

Jane, the Fox and Me

Book cover

Jane, the Fox and Me, written by Fanny Britt and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault is a graphic coming-of-age story for pre-teens and teens as much as it is a story for adults. It is also a great book for language learners. It is easy to connect to the characters, who range from cool-kid gangs to everyday nerds and outcasts. There are also lots of fun language resources to explore. The visual world of the book is a real treat as it will support language learners in understanding the narrative in depth.

Year of Release: 2013

Author(s): Fanny Britt, Isabelle Arsenault (illustrator)

Preview: https://www.walker.co.uk/Jane-the-Fox-and-Me-9781406353044.aspx

Further information (link): https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/17214302-jane-the-fox-me

ISBN: 9781406353044

ebook URL: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Jane_the_Fox_and_Me?id=AbRAAQAAQBAJ&hl=en&gl=US

Audiobook URL:

Online text: https://www.helblinglanguages.com/int/en/blog/beat-the-bullies-through-books-a-review-of-jane-the-fox-me

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

Further comments for teachers:

Explore the visual world of the book and use it as a starting point for discussions. The typography, the colours and the layout of the pages add new layers of meaning to the written narrative. You can also talk about the intertextual references to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

Categories
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

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

Preview:

Further information (link):

ISBN: ISBN 10: 0061998168ISBN 13: 9780061998164

ebook URL:

Audiobook URL:

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

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

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



Further comments for teachers:

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.

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

Panama

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

Preview:

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

ISBN:

ebook URL:

Audiobook URL:

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

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

Further comments for teachers:

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/

Categories
2010-2019 All CEFR B2 High school (grades 9+) Medium Length (up to 8 hrs) Other Text Formats Print

I Was Their American Dream

Malaka Gharib grew up in the United States as a Filipino Egyptian American. Her parents divorced, and she stayed with her mother, visiting her dad in Egypt every summer. Throughout high school and college, she was seeking an answer to the question: Who am I? She had difficulty finding people with similar backgrounds, so she always felt she was the odd one out. Her graphic memoir tracks this journey.

Year of Release: 2019

Author(s): Malaka Gharib

Preview: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/575400/i-was-their-american-dream-by-malaka-gharib/

Further information (link): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40909448-i-was-their-american-dream?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ziTd6P5Egh&rank=1

ISBN: 9780525575122

ebook URL:

Audiobook URL:

Online text:

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

Chapter 4 deals with Malaka’s self-perception as a high school student torn between two parental cultures and the mainstream American culture.



Further comments for teachers:

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Categories
2000-2009 2010-2019 All CEFR B2 eBook High school (grades 9+) Medium Length (up to 8 hrs) Novel Print

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things

The protagonist, Virginia Shreves, lives in a perfect family in New York, but feels a total outcast. Her parents and her siblings are slim and sporty, while Virginia suffers from low self-esteem due to her obesity. Her parents are devastated by her brother’s date-rape case, and they go into complete denial. Virginia takes her life into her own hands, joins a kickbox class to lose weight and makes new friends.

Year of Release: 2003, 2018

Author(s): Carolyn Mackler

Preview: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/earth-my-butt-and-other-big-round-things-9781681198002/

Further information (link): https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/253106

ISBN: 9781681197982

ebook URL:

Audiobook URL:

Online text:

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

Very useful for moderate teenage slang.



Further comments for teachers:

The 2003 edition is different from the new edition published in 2018.

Categories
2010-2019 All Audiobook CEFR B1 eBook Extracts - Well Suited for Teaching With Extracts High school (grades 9+) Medium Length (up to 8 hrs) Novel Print

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom

Yeonmi Park tells her story of living as a young girl in North Korea and how she eventually managed to flee. The book gives insights into North Korean life, her escape from there and the ordeals and pains Park had to endure “in order to live”.

Year of Release:

Author(s): Yeonmi Park, Maryanne Vollers

Preview: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318940/in-order-to-live-by-yeonmi-park-with-maryanne-vollers/

Further information (link): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24611623-in-order-to-live

ISBN: 978-0-241-97303-5

ebook URL: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318940/in-order-to-live-by-yeonmi-park-with-maryanne-vollers/

Audiobook URL: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318940/in-order-to-live-by-yeonmi-park-with-maryanne-vollers/

Online text:

Extract and usage suggestions for teaching:

Pages 1-6: Prologue

Pages 9-121: Part One takes take place in North Korea.

Pages 125-198: Part Two focuses on the journey through China

Pages 201-267: Part Three covers life in South Korea



Further comments for teachers:

While reading the book from beginning to end, students can try to record and reconstruct an approximate timeline and locations and plot them on a map (such as the one in the book). It will not always be possible to pin down exact places, which is a fact which can also be used for discussions.

Large digital version for the map in the book: http://ebookassets.penguinrandomhouse.com/ebookassets/features/inordertolive/IOTL_Map.pdf