What Is Great About It: Most of the adults do not know how to deal with death, even

though they want to teach children about it. It makes us realize how inefficient our education
systems are because they can not help us deal with life’s most basic issues.
Eventually, the students start to lose faith in everything, and the adults have to put on a show
of love to make themselves less frightened. It shows the inadequacy of adults to explain and
comprehend death, and so they just pretend that they do. In this way, the cycle of
misunderstanding and avoiding life’s issues continues on.
11. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid
Reading Level: Fairly Easy
A mother is telling her daughter how to live her life properly. The daughter does not seem to
have any say in it.
What Is Great About It: This may not be technically a story since there is no plot. “Girl”
talks about how girls are taught to live restricted lives since childhood. The mother instructs
her to do all the household chores, indicating that it is her sole purpose.

Sometimes the mother tells her to not attract attention, to not talk to boys and to always keep
away from men. On the other hand, she hints that she will have to be attractive to bakers and
other suitable males in the society in order to live a good life.

This story is about these conflicting ideas that girls face when growing up.
12. “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling
Reading Level: Fairly Easy
“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is about a Mongoose who regularly visits a family in India. The family
feeds him and lets him explore their house, but they worry that he might bite their son,
Teddy. One day a snake is about to attack him when the Mongoose kills it. Eventually, he
becomes a part of the family forever.
What Is Great About It: This is a simple story about humans and animals living together as
friends. It is old, but the language is fairly easy to understand. It reminds us that animals can
also experience feelings of love and, like humans, they will also protect the ones they love.
“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is part of Kipling’s short story collection “The Jungle Book,” which was
famously made into a movie by Disney. If you enjoy the story but need a break from reading,
check out this captivating trailer for Disney’s newer version of the movie.
That video is also available on FluentU, so you don’t have to worry that you won’t
understand—just click on any word in the interactive subtitles for an instant definition.
There are also flashcards and fun quizzes to help you learn from the video, as well as the
thousands of other real English videos available on FluentU.
13. Excerpt from “Little Dorrit” by Charles Dickens
Reading Level: Fairly Easy