Reading Materials

READING Materials used in class or for homework:

 

All of the novels listed below are written in a special, specific way!  They incorporate a limited, high frequency vocabulary and lots of repetition, and include dialog.  They are perfect ways to build your comprehension level in both reading, listening, and eventually for your speaking.  The novels by Blaine Ray are my favorite novels for beginners through intermediates! The other recommended novels are by a variety of different authors, and we also highly recommend these.  Ask us how to get the books. We often have extras in class, or they can be ordered online.

The Level 1 and 2 Blaine Ray novels also have Audio Book CDs available (recommended IN ADDITION to reading, not in place of reading).  They are great to listen to while following along in your book, as well as listening to in your car or at home, once you are familiar with the novel – to improve your LISTENING COMPREHENSION!

* Please start with the Blaine Ray books at each level – and then move onto the others per level.  In our opinion, the BR books are written the most clearly for acquiring a new language – with plenty of repetition, filled with very common word structures, progressively getting more difficult per book, and even printed for the easiest reading (the way it looks on the paper).  The Blaine Ray books should be followed in the order listed within each level – they intentionally get progressively more difficult.

Blaine Ray Level One Novel Series –  in the Present and Past tenses:
1. Pobre Ana
2. Patricia Va a California
3. Casi Se Muere
4. El Viaje de su Vida
5. Pobre Ana Bailó Tango (the first novel in past tense)
 
Blaine Ray Level Two Novel Series  – in Present and Past with more vocab:
1. Mi Propio Auto
2. ¿Dónde Está Edwardo?
3. El Viaje Perdido
4. ¡Viva el Toro!
 
Blaine Ray Level Three Novels – in Past tense
1. Los Ojos de Carmen
2. Vida o Muerte en El Cusco
 
 
Other Level One Novels (by various authors) – in both the Present and/or Past tenses:
1. El Nuevo Houdini
2. Robo En La Noche
3. Piratas
4. Esperanza
5. Noches Misteriosas en Granada
 
Other Level Two novels (by various authors) – in both the Present or Past tenses:
1. El Billete Oloroso: una novela de misterio – present tense (only available in Core Fluency classes) 
2. Felipe Alou: Desde Los Valles A Las Montañas
3. Problemas en Paraíso
4. Los Baker Van a Peru
5. La Maldición de la Cabeza Reducida
6. Rebeldes de Tejas
 
Recommended Other Level Three/Four novels (by various authors) – in Past tense:
1. El Billete Oloroso: una novela de misterio  – past tense (only available in Core Fluency classes) 
2. La Hija del Sastre (about the Spanish Civil War)
3. La Guerra Sucia (about Argentina’s Dirty War)
4. Vida y Muerte en La Mara Salvatrucha (about gangs in US and Ecuador)