10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Reading lessons discussions.
ben@e52
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2019 11:01 pm

10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Postby ben@e52 » Mon Jan 21, 2019 7:19 pm

Hello!

This is Teacher Ben at E52. Here are some recommended stories aimed at intermediate learners who hope to improve their reading skills as well as their vocabulary. Check out the list below and see if any of these books pique your interest!

1. Sarah, Plain and Tall - 1985

This classic by Patricia MacLachlan is often assigned to elementary and middle school students. It tells the story of a Midwestern family that is saddened by the death of their mother and places an ad in the newspaper for a female caregiver and bride. Sarah Wheaton, a woman from Maine, answers the ad and moves in with the family.

2. The Indian in the Cupboard - 1980

This beloved series by Lynne Reid Banks focuses on a boy who has a cupboard that magically turns his toy men into real people.

3. Matilda - 1988

This is a classic from the legendary British writer Roald Dahl. It focuses on Matilda, a young girl with exemplary intelligence that is often mistreated and seeks revenge on others with her special powers.

4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - 1950

The first book from this famous fantasy series by C.S. Lewis features children that step through a magical wardrobe into a fantasy land called Narnia that is full of talking animals and mythical creatures.

5. Animal Farm - 1945

George Orwell’s classic is a brief read that packs quite a punch. Orwell uses a farm and farm animals as an effective metaphor for the events leading up to the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union.

6. Holes - 1998

This young adult novel by Louis Sachar finds Stanley Yelnats at a juvenile detention center in Texas, where he is forced to dig one hole a day. However, things slowly start to unravel and the plot becomes much more complex.

7. Hatchet - 1987

This young adult survival novel by Gary Paulsen will make you long for the wilderness and evoke your sense of wonder and adventure. After Brian crash-lands a bush plane in the Canadian wilderness, he must learn how to survive the summer on his own with nothing but a hatchet and his intuition.

8. Lord of the Flies - 1954

Like Hatchet, William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies focuses on boys that have crashed on an island and must survive and build a new civilization. The focus, however, is instead on how their attempt to govern themselves proves to be disastrous, serving as a commentary on morality, mankind, and the clash between social organization and rules and the want for power.

9. The Old Man and the Sea - 1952

The plot of Ernest Hemingway’s novel is short and simple – an unlucky Cuban fisherman catches a massive fish and attempts to bring it back to shore. While it doesn’t sound like much, what follows is an emotional and intense story of struggle and sacrifice.

10. The Chocolate War - 1974

Now regarded as one of the best young adult novels of all time, Robert Cormier’s book focuses on the themes of power and conformity when a secret student organization at a high school uses intimidation to force cultural norms. While the focus of the novel is on selling chocolate, it becomes a larger metaphor for competition and the mob mentality.



What are some of your favorite books you’ve read in English? Feel free to recommend them below!

- Ben at E52

ts112
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:08 pm

Re: 10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Postby ts112 » Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:19 pm

Body respect
- It only has 100-150 pages and easy to carry (small book).

The mindfulness solution
- Vocabs are not that difficult. It is easy to understand and interesting.

aiden
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:30 pm

Re: 10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Postby aiden » Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:26 pm

I thought that it is better to recommend the book which is on the list of great novel in Google than I've read.
So I looked up and I recommend "Tuesdays with Morrie".
It says that when Mitch Albom reconnects with Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor, he learns valuable life lessons and shares with readers all the funny, insightful wisdom that Morrie reveals in the last months of his life. It’s a great book to pick up a more conversational style of reading and writing.
I am also going to read this book soon!

guimba
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:20 pm

Re: 10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Postby guimba » Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:46 pm

Don Quixote
Don Quixote is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published, such as the Bokklubben World Library collection that cites Don Quixote as the authors' choice for the "best literary work ever written".
The story follows the adventures of a noble named Alonso Quixano who reads so many chivalry romances that he loses his sanity and decides to become a knight-errant, reviving chivalry and serving his country, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who often employs a unique, earthy wit in dealing with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood. Don Quixote, in the first part of the book, does not see the world for what it is and prefers to imagine that he is living out a knightly story.

boyd-narak
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:20 pm

Re: 10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Postby boyd-narak » Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:47 pm

I would like to recommended the book name "Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer." It is about a young man his name Johnson Macandless In April 1992 he leave his family and burned all the cash in his wallet and started a new life. He was sleeping on the street and live like homeless. One day he went to Alaska and walked alone to The north of Mt. Mckinley . One night he ate toxic mushrooms and no one couldn't help him so he die on the old van in The north of Mt. Mckinly. But the book is telling to the reader about how his personality and his positive attitude. And why he leave his family and antisocial.

marilynalvardoq
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:43 pm

Re: 10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Postby marilynalvardoq » Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:52 pm

test2
Last edited by marilynalvardoq on Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

marilynalvardoq
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:43 pm

Re: 10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Postby marilynalvardoq » Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:57 pm

I strong recommend read: The Eternal Distortion of God, is a new book about existence of God and how the human beings have a misunderstanding him/she, and you can read this book in less one hour and for sure you can change totally your perspective about God. You can get this book in Amazon in Spanish and English for less than 5 dollars and it's really interesting.

englishteacher551
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 11:05 pm

Re: 10 Books for Intermediate ESL Learners

Postby englishteacher551 » Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:25 am

Jack London's "Call of the Wild" is one of my favorite books of all time. It's an adventure story which follows a man and a team of sled dogs in Alaska. Lots of ups and downs and very easy to get attached to the characters.