Mandarin Companion
Breakthrough Level: 150 Characters
Just Friends?
Features
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
Description
Dapeng and Wendong are best friends attending the same college. When the beautiful Zixin arrives on campus, they soon discover they both share an interest in her. To preserve their friendship, they make a promise not to pursue her. However, when Wendong sees Zixin going for a ride in Dapeng’s car, the truce dissolves into a battle between the two friends trying to gain the affection of Zixin. Whom does she really like, or are they “Just Friends?”
Content
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78 pages
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246 unique words
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140 unique characters
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3,690 total characters
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Xiao Ming, Boy Sherlock
Features
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
Description
Even at a young age, Xiao Ming (boy Sherlock Holmes) has a reputation among his peers for his keen powers of observation. His budding skills are put to the test when he is tasked with finding a thief at school. However mysteries always seem to find him when strange fires start out of seemingly nowhere and a classmate begins anonymously receiving flowers from a secret admirer. With the help of his older brother, Xiao Ming employs his skills of wit and deduction to unveil the truth hidden behind every mystery.
Content
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87 pages
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- unique words
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- unique characters
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- total characters
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My Teacher is a Martian
Features
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
Description
Two students are fascinated by outer space, but when their new teacher seems to know more about Mars than anyone could possibly know, they start to suspect that something is unusual. As they encounter inexplicable events, they become convinced their teacher is actually from Mars. How can they prove it and who will believe them? They may be the only ones who can discover the truth!
Content
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78 pages
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283 unique words
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149 unique characters
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4,160 total characters
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Misadventures of Zhou Haisheng
Features
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
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✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
Description
Zhou Haisheng is a fun-loving and determined young boy whose life revolves around school and his family’s Chinese restaurant. Always well-intentioned, he finds ways to help out his hard-working parents with the family business. Whether it's inventing his own noodle recipe, delivering the wrong order to a customer, or resorting to extremes when a competing noodle shop opens across the street, Zhou Haisheng manages to combine his mischief and wit to save the day.
Content
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80 pages
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278 unique words
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148 unique characters
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3,730 total characters
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Level 1: 300 Characters
Country of the Blind
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
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✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
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Description
“In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” repeats in Chen Fangyuan’s mind after he finds himself trapped in a valley holding a community of people for whom a disease eliminated their vision many generations before and no longer have a concept of sight. Chen Fangyuan quickly finds that these people have developed their other senses to compensate for their lack of sight. His insistence that he can see causes the entire community to believe he is crazy. With no way out, Chen Fangyuan begins to accept his fate until one day the village doctors believe they now understand what is the cause of his insanity… those useless round objects in his eye sockets.
Content
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98 pages
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527 unique words
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299 unique characters
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9,050 total characters
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Emma
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
Description
Clever, rich, and single, the beautiful Ān Mò (Emma Woodhouse) is focused on her career as fashion designer in the glamor of 21st-century Shanghai. She sees no need for romance in her life, but when she tries to find a boyfriend for her new friend Fangfang (Harriet), her carefully laid plans being to unravel. As she ignores the warnings of her good friend Shi Wenzheng (Mr. Knightley), her decisions bring consequences that she never expected. With its witty and charming characters, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen’s most flawless work.
Content
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108 pages
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570 unique words
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298 unique characters
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9,520 total characters
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Monkey's Paw
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
Description
Mr. and Mrs. Zhang live with their grown son Guisheng who works at a factory. One day an old friend of Mr. Zhang comes to visit the family after having spent years traveling in the mysterious hills of China’s Yunnan Province. He tells the Zhang family of a monkey’s paw that has magical powers to grant three wishes to the holder. Against his better judgment, he reluctantly gives the monkey paw to the Zhang family, along with a warning that the wishes come with a great price for trying to change ones fate...
Content
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86 pages
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472 unique words
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270 unique characters
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7,060 total characters
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Prince and the Pauper
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
Description
During a chance encounter, two nearly identical boys, one a poor beggar and the other a prince, decide to exchange places. The pauper, now living in the royal palace, is constantly filled with the dread of being discovered for who and what he really is while the Prince, dressed in rags, lives on the street enduring hardships he never thought possible. Both children soon discover that neither life is as carefree as they expected.
Content
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122 pages
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663 unique words
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307 unique characters
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12,170 total characters
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Ransom of Red Chief
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
Description
Trying to make some fast cash, two small-time crooks devise a plan to kidnap the son of a wealthy family in a village and hold him for ransom. When the kidnapped boy pulls out his Hong Hou (“Red Monkey”) costume, the two burglars realize they may be in for more than they planned. As their ransom notes remain unanswered and their scheme starts to drag on, the two crooks find out for themselves how a child's imagination can spell disaster for two inexperienced criminal minds.
Content
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108 pages
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546 unique words
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284 unique characters
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8,770 total characters
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Secret Garden
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
Description
Li Ye (Mary Lennox) grew up without the love and affection of her parents. After an epidemic leaves her an orphan, Li Ye is sent off to live with her reclusive uncle in his sprawling estate in Nanjing. She learns of a secret garden where no one has set foot in ten years. Li Ye finds the garden and slowly discovers the secrets of the manor. With the help of new friends, she brings the garden back to life and learns the healing power of friendship and love.
Content
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108 pages
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517 unique words
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291 unique characters
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9,770 total characters
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Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Curly Haired Company
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
Description
Mr. Xie was recently hired by the Curly Haired Company. For a significant weekly allowance, he was required to sit in an office and copy articles from a book, while in the meantime his assistant looked after his shop. He had answered an advertisement in the paper and although hundreds of people applied, he was the only one selected because of his very curly hair. When the company unexpectedly closes, Mr. Xie visits Gao Ming (Sherlock Holmes) with his strange story. Gao Ming is certain something is not right, but will he solve the mystery in time?
Content
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92 pages
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515 unique words
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303 unique characters
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7,870 total characters
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Sixty Year Dream
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
Description
Zhou Xuefa (Rip Van Winkle) is well loved by everyone in his town, everyone except his nagging wife. With his faithful dog Blackie, Zhou Xuefa spends his time playing with kids, helping neighbors, and discussing politics in the teahouse. One day after a bad scolding from his wife, he goes for a walk into the mountains and meets a mysterious old man who appears to be from an ancient time. The man invites him into his mountain home for a meal and after drinking some wine, Zhou Xuefa falls into a deep sleep. He awakes to a time very different than what he once knew.
Content
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86 pages
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500 unique words
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302 unique characters
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7,180 total characters
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Level 2: 450 Characters
Great Expectations Part 1
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
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✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
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Description
In Part 1, Xiaomao (Pip) is raised by his short-tempered older sister and her husband who run a small repair shop in the outskirts of Shanghai. Xiaomao dreams of leaving his life of poverty behind after becoming playmates with the beautiful Bingbing (Estella), daughter of the eccentric Bai Xiaojie (Ms. Havisham). His prospects for the future are bleak, until one day a mysterious benefactor gives Xiaomao the opportunity of a lifetime.
Content
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104 pages
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869 unique words
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428 unique characters
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12,440 total characters
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Great Expectations Part 2
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
✔️ traditional and simplified character editions
Description
Great Expectations is hailed as Charles Dickens' masterpiece. A gripping tale of love and loss, aspiration and moral redemption, the story follows the young orphan Xiaomao (Pip) from poverty to a life of unexpected opportunity and wealth. In Part 2, Xiaomao leaves his life of poverty behind to seek his fortunes in Shanghai and win the heart of the beautiful yet cold-hearted Bingbing (Estella). Xiaomao’s world is turned upside down when his mysterious benefactor is revealed and his deepest secrets are brought into the light of day.
Content
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118 pages
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919 unique words
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446 unique characters
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13,370 total characters
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Journey to the Center of the Earth
Features
❌ no pinyin transcription
❌ no English translation
✔️ Audio book sold separately
✔️ footnotes and glossary for new words
✔️ paperback or Kindle e-book
✔️ discussion questions for each chapter
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Description
Join Professor Luo and his niece Xiaojing in their daring quest down the mouth of a volcano to reach the center of the earth. Guided by a mysterious passage on an ancient parchment and accompanied by their faithful guide Lao Xu, the three explorers encounter subterranean phenomena, prehistoric animals, and vast underground seas. A Journey to the Center of the Earth is one of Jules Verne’s best-known works and one of the most classic tales of adventure ever written.
Content
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106 pages
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783 unique words
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391 unique characters
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10,300 total characters
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