Last summer, Tri-City libraries had reading programs for kids, teens and adults, and one program invited ESL adults to read books at their English level and write book reviews. Many of these participants were at intermediate ESL levels, and some read their first book in English.
Here are a few of the reviews written by participants in the Summer Reading Club for Adult Learners at CPL:
• Search and Rescue by Gail Anderson-Dargatz, reviewed by Xue Hong: “This book tells us a story about searching for a missing girl on a nature trail. A newspaper reporter named Claire has a sixth sense so she can first know the information. Through her sixth sense, she knew the girl was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend but the search manager named Matt didn’t believe her. After working to find her, the girl is saved.”
• This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories that are Blocking Progress, edited by John Brockman, reviewed by Abdolvahed Razzaghi: “Advancements in science are accomplished by discovering new things and developing new ideas. To achieve this goal, usually old ideas should be abandoned and replaced by new ones. In the past, this process would take a long time but today, the rate of change is very rapid and every day lots of new scientific discoveries and ideas are coming on the scene. John Brockman, the editor, asked 175 scientists and visionaries to comment on scientific ideas that are ready to be abandoned..”
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, reviewed by Zohreh Gholipour: “A Christmas Carol is a story that says how a bad person can change to be a good person. Scrooge is a mean, cold and stingy man. He loves money and breaks everyone’s heart who is in need. One night, he dreams about a few ghosts who take him to the past and future. He can easily see the results of his work. He decides to change and becomes a good, helpful and generous man.”
• The Call of the Wild by Jack London, reviewed by Elnaz Shahianbaran: “This book is about a domesticated dog that becomes a wild dog. His name is Buck. He lived in California but was sold to people who were using dogs to find gold. Buck suffered from his owner but one man was kind to him. Unfortunately, that man died. After that, Buck didn’t work for anyone and lived in the woods with wolves.”
• Chemical Secret by Tim Vicary, reviewed by Chan Young Chung: “John Duncan is a biologist. After his wife dies in an accident at sea, everything falls apart. He has to support two kids and he desperately needs a job. When he finds a job at a paint factory, his boss cares about nothing but his business. John’s job is to test the safety of painting material and water waste. He does many secret experiments with mice and has many bad results showing damaged bodies. John’s daughter and her boyfriend notice the painting company has been hiding something and find out the waste water is polluting the river and sea. They strongly disagree with John and have very bad relations. When John goes to court, he makes the right choice and admits the company had been bad. I hope John, his daughter and grandchild will have a good relationship.”
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on Wednesdays. Janice Williams works at Coquitlam Public Library.
