I must confess the first time I tried to read this book, I abandoned it. I just could not. I think I kind of lost interest. However, after I became familiar with the idea that something I read during my childhood cannot be read the same way years later, I came to agree that this story deserved another chance. So, I tried it some five or four years later, I mean now, and it felt better to read it. Besides, the impressions I have had from reading this is that it is a nice story. Its simple plot leads to understanding it well, I mean it is contextualized in its own way.
So, in order to be consistent with this review's title, I shall now remark on how this story could be used with a teenagers' group. Fact is that this story has been designed to be used with/for intermediate level students, so that is a nice way to start reading in English, since it does not require a advanced knowledge of the language to comprehend it. Yet, readers should be warned that this is not a kid book, so they need to employ a very good deal of knowledge to understand it.
Teachers could make use of this to help students have more contact with authentic material from the target language. This way, both the words and the pictures, which are throughout the story, should be used in order to help students grasp it. That could certainly be a plot that draws students' attention because of the mystery and also due to its young characters.
I would really recommend this material to be used by teachers who intend to motivate their students to start reading in English. I believe this is a good way to start, and this could be done by reading a few chapters with them before assigning each of them a chapter to present or interpret. What a great idea!
