Die Geschichte des Indianermädchens Karana, das ganz allein auf einer einsamen Insel im Pazifik lebt, hat sich tatsächlich zugetragen: Mitte des vorigen Jahrhunderts, rund fünfundsiebzig Meilen südwestlich von Los Angeles. Scott O'Dell, Autor zahlreicher historischer Jugendromane, hat versucht, dem außergewöhnlichen Schicksal dieses weiblichen Robinson Crusoe dichterisch nachzuspüren.
It is the summer of 1900 and Leo is staying with his friend Marcus. Leo likes Marcus's beautiful older sister, Marian very much. He becomes a secret messenger for her and a local farmer. But when he realizes what the messages they send each other are about, he is shocked and confused.
Oxford Bookworms offer students at all levels the opportunity to extend their reading and appreciation of English. There are six stages, taking students from elementary to advanced level. At the lower stages, many of the texts have been specially written for the series, to provide elementary and lower-intermediate students with an introduction to real reading in English. At the higher stages, most of the books have been adapted from works originally published for native speakers.
In Hard Times, Dickens illustrates the condition of England through the fictional city of Coketown. Among its inhabitants are Thomas Gradgrind, the utilitarian headmaster who attempts to impose his rigid worldview on his family circle, and the uncaring businessman Mr Bounderby. Their materialist philosophies, as opposed to the world of fancy or imagination, are tested throughout the novel, which also explores workers’ conditions, trade unions and the spurious use of statistics. Perhaps the most polemical of his novels – in which hard-biting satire, moving drama and exuberant comedy find a very succinct and powerful expression – Hard Times is the ideal introduction to the world of Dickens.