Five years ago the mine in the village closed and lots of men lost their jobs. Many young people left the village in order to find work. Mr Beech bought the mine and the hills next to it and promised jobs for all, but the jobs never came and now the hills themselves are in danger. "Penguin Readers" is a series of simplified novels, film novelizations and original titles that introduce students at all levels to the pleasures of reading in English. Originally designed for teaching English as a foreign language, the series' combination of high interest level and low reading age makes it suitable for both English-speaking teenagers with limited reading skills and students of English as a second language. Many titles in the series also provide access to the pre-20th century literature strands of the National Curriculum English Orders. "Penguin Readers" are graded at seven levels of difficulty, from "Easystarts" with a 200-word vocabulary, to Level 6 (Advanced) with a 3000-word vocabulary. In addition, titles fall into one of three sub-categories: "Contemporary", "Classics" or "Originals". At the end of each book there is a section of enjoyable exercises focusing on vocabulary building, comprehension, discussion and writing. Some titles in the series are available with an accompanying audio cassette, or in a book and cassette pack. Additionally, selected titles have free accompanying "Penguin Readers Factsheets" which provide stimulating exercise material for students, as well as suggestions for teachers on how to exploit the Readers in class.

 

This book is part of a book series called Penguin Readers .

This book is aimed at children in secondary school. This book is part of a reading scheme, meaning that it is a book aimed at children who are learning to read.

There are 40 pages in this book. This book was published 1999 by Pearson Education Limited .

Josephine Feeney is the fifth of eight children, and was a teacher for thirteen years before becoming a full-time writer in 1991. She is the author of Makeover Madness and The Day My Parents Ran Away. She lives with her family in Leicester. Kate Sheppard has illustrated many educational children's books, including Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine and Jabulani!: Ideas for Making Music. She lives in Gloucestershire.