4. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
《芒果街上的小屋》 桑德拉·希斯內羅絲著

[推薦理由]

The great thing about "The House On Mango Street" is that it's an interesting read. It's written from the point of view of the writer. You can really feel what the protagonist (the main character) feels. The sentences are really short so it's also easy to understand. There are a few challenging words and a little bit of descriptive language, but you can usually understand them with the context. Another great thing about this book is that it gives you a deep understanding of a different culture.
《芒果街上的小屋》的優點是，它是本有趣的讀物。這本書從作家的視角出發，讓你切身體會到主人公的感受。書中句子相當簡短，因此也易于理解。其中有少量頗具挑戰性的詞匯和一點描述性的語言，但你通常可以在語境中讀懂它們。這本書的另一大優點是它可以讓你深刻地了解一種不同的文化。

[內容簡介]

This book follows the life of Esperanza, a Mexican girl. Esperanza moves into a new home on Mango Street. Their new house is old and small. In the new home, Esperanza feels like she has no time to be alone. She promises herself that one day she will leave and have her own home. Throughout the novel the young girl grows up a lot. The story follows her life as she makes friends, her body changes and she begins to have feelings for a boy. There is a lot of focus on other women in the community and Esperanza hopes never to be like them. Through watching the older women and how they are stuck, she knows that she wants to leave.
這本書描繪了墨西哥女孩埃斯佩朗莎的一生。埃斯佩朗莎搬到了芒果街上的新家。他們的新房子又舊又小。在新家，埃斯佩朗莎感覺自己沒有時間獨處。她向自己保證有一天會離開這，擁有自己的房子。小說中，小女孩長大了很多。故事描述著她的生活，交友、身體變化、開始對一個男生有好感。小說也描繪了社區中的其他女人，埃斯佩朗莎希望自己永遠不要像她們一樣。通過目睹那些上了歲數的女人以及她們是如何被困住的，她知道自己想要離開。

5. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
《13個理由》 杰·艾雪著

[推薦理由]

This story takes place in the present, which means the writer writes using simple grammar. All sentences are short and the vocabulary is relatively easy. The interesting grammar and short paragraphs make this a quick and easy book for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. This is an award-winning book and on the New York Times best books list, so it's worth a read.
故事發生在當代，這意味著作家是用簡單的語法來寫作的。所有的句子都很短小，詞匯也相對容易。它語法有趣，段落短小，對把英語作為第二語言的學習者來說簡單易讀。這是一部獲獎的讀物，且在《紐約時報》最佳書單也榜上有名，值得一讀。

[內容簡介]

The main character is Clay Jensen, a quiet high school student. He comes home from school to find a parcel at his front door. He does not know who sent it. He opens it and discovers 7 cassette tapes. These tapes are from Hannah Baker, his previous classmate. She had emotional problems and has committed suicide (killed herself). The tapes came with instructions. The paper stated that they should pass the tapes from one student to another student. There are 12 people in total. In the paper, she explains to these people that they helped her die – she gives them 13 reasons. We hear about her pain. She talks about her first kiss, people who lied to her and stole from her. Everything started with gossip. The gossip then grew and became out of control.
主角是克萊·杰生，一名沉默寡言的高中生。他從學校回到家，在前門發現了一個包裹。克萊不知道包裹是誰寄的，打開后發現了7盒磁帶。這些磁帶是他以前的同學漢娜·貝克寄來的，漢娜有情感問題，已經自殺了。磁帶還附有指示。紙上寫道，應把磁帶由一個學生傳給另一個學生，共12人。漢娜向這些人解釋說，他們都是她死亡的推手——她給了他們13個理由。我們聽到了她的痛苦。她談到她的初吻，對她撒謊的人，偷她東西的人。一切都始于流言蜚語。之后，流言越傳越兇，逐漸失控。

6. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
《彼得·潘》 J·M·巴利著

[推薦理由]

Almost everyone knows the story of "Peter Pan" which is why this is an easy read. Being familiar with a story already helps the reader to understand the text better. This book is aimed at children, but it continues to be enjoyed by adults around the world too.
幾乎所有人都知道彼得·潘的故事，這就是它是一本簡單讀物的原因。熟悉一個故事本就有助于讀者更好地理解文本。這本書的目標讀者是兒童，但它也為世界各地的成年人所喜愛。

[內容簡介]

Peter invites Wendy to return to Neverland with him. Wendy asks for her brothers Michael and John to join them. They have a magical flight as they travel to Neverland and have many adventures along the way. After all their adventures and fun, Wendy decides that her place is at home with their mother. But Peter doesn't want her to go. Instead he tries to trick her. He tells her that their mother doesn't want them anymore. However, he understands how sad their mother must be. In the end, he decides to let them go home.
彼得邀請溫蒂和他一起回到夢幻島。溫迪要求讓她的弟弟米迦勒和約翰加入他們。他們在前往夢幻島的途中進行了一次神奇的飛行，沿途歷經了很多次冒險。在經歷了所有這些冒險和游戲后，溫蒂決定她要在家里與母親一起生活。但彼得不想讓她回去，反而試圖欺騙她。他告訴溫蒂，他們的母親不想要他們了。然而，彼得了解到他們的母親會多悲傷，最后，他還是決定讓她們回家。

7. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
《老人與海》 歐內斯特·海明威著

[推薦理由]

This is a famous classic. Almost all native English speakers will have read this book at some point in school. So, if you ever find yourself in a conversation about literature and books, this is a good one to talk about. It has a little bit of difficult vocabulary, however, it is short and you won't have too much trouble being able to finish it.
這是一部著名的經典作品。幾乎所有以英語為母語的人都會在學校的某一時期讀過這本書。所以，如果你發現自己正在和別人談論文學與書籍，這本書將是一個很好的話題。這本書有一些較難的詞匯，但是它篇幅很短，讀完它并不會感覺太困難。

[內容簡介]

This is a story of a long fight between an old, experienced fisherman and the best fish he ever caught. Santiago has returned to the village without any fish for 84 days. On the eighty-fifth day, his luck changes and so does his life. At 12 pm, a huge fish takes the bait. The man tries to pull the fish up, but the fish is too big and strong. Instead, the fish begins to pull the boat. The old man continues to fight and hold on to the line. The fish pulls the boat around the sea for two days.
這是一個關于一位經驗豐富的老漁民和他抓到過的最好的魚之間的漫長博弈的故事。圣地亞哥已經84天沒打到一條魚空著手回村了。第85天，他轉運了，其生活也隨之發生了改變。半夜12點，一條巨大的魚(馬林魚)吞餌(用來吸引魚的食物)上鉤了。圣地亞哥試圖把魚拉上來，但那條魚太大太壯了，反而開始拉起了船。老人繼續戰斗，緊緊地抓著魚線。魚拉著船在海里游了整整兩天。

On the third day, the fish gets tired. Santiago is able to pull the fish closer and kill it. It's the biggest fish he has seen in his life. He begins to sail back to the village, but the blood of the fish attracts sharks. The boat is attacked by a Mako shark, but Santiago is able to kill it. He kills most of the sharks, but there is a problem. They have eaten the meat of the fish and now only the skeleton is left. He returns back to his home and falls asleep.
第三天，魚累了。圣地亞哥把魚拉近，殺死了它。這是他一生中見過的最大一條魚。他開始駕船返回村子，但魚的血引來了鯊魚。船被灰鯖鯊攻擊，但是圣地亞哥成功殺了它。他殺死了大多數的鯊魚，但有一個問題。他們吃掉了魚肉，如今只剩下了魚骨架。他回到自己家睡著了。