Dead Man's Island

by John Escott, Tricia Hedge, Jennifer Basset (Series Editor)

The Oxford Bookworms Library extends the range of activities and teaching support of Oxford Bookworms and includes in each book an Activities section of Before Reading, While Reading and After Reading exercises. The six stages offer stories at different levels of ability.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Audiobook, Short Stories, Novels, Literature

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

John Escott started by writing children's books and comic scripts, but now writes and adapts books for students of all ages. He especially enjoys writing crime and mystery thrillers, and is a member of the British Crime Writers Association.

With Oxford University Press John has published London for the Oxford Bookworms Factfile series; Agatha Christie, Woman of Mystery, Star Reporter, Girl on a Motorbike, The Fly and Other Horror Stories, and The Scarlet Letter for the Oxford Bookworms Library series; The Magician, Time for a Robbery, Star for a day, Tomorrow's Girl, and The Man with Three NAMEs for the Hotshot Puzzles series; and A Pretty Face for the Dominoes series.

Reviews

[Diamond Cowboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will give a review later.

[Elizabeth Gosse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short story.
It is a good story for adult learners who are looking to improve their reading skills, but do not want to start with long books.

[JJ Khodadadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان دختری که به دلیل مرگ خواننده مورد علاقش و همچنین مرگ پدرش به مواد و دوستان جدید رو میاره و ادامه ماجرا

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead Man's Island is one girl's story called Carol. She was very kind girl, but suddenly she changed. Because her father died by plane accident. She started to have drugs and play with bad friends. But, she changed herself after she listened to James Ross. James Ross is a singer that she liked. But one day he hit a girl with car,so he started to stay in this island, because he was guilty. She's like James Ross, so she changed.

[Denisse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and easy book for beginners in the English language. A young woman named Carol Sanders suffers an inconsolable loss when her father dies. As a result of this,she has bad friends and gets involved in drugs. Her desperate mother decides to move with the young woman to England. There, her mother gets a job on an island that has a secret and Carol is determined to find out what it is.


Un libro corto y fácil de leer para principiantes en el idioma inglés. Una joven llamada Carol Sanders sufre una pérdida inconsolable cuando muere su padre. Producto de esto, tiene malas amistades y se involucra en las drogas. Su madre desesperada, decide mudarse con la joven a Inglaterra. Allí su madre consigue un trabajo en una isla que tiene un secreto y Carol está dispuesta a descubrir de que se trata.

[Yesmine Braiek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a quick and fun read!
I think it would be a good start for anyone trying to read English books and he/she is scared of big novels.

[María · Rating 3 out of 5]

No esta mal. Historia corta y entretenida para pasar un ratico.
Lo mejor es que he podido leerla y entenderla sin dificultad.

[peace ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me when I have to write a creative story for English

[Ewan Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead Man's Island is OXFORD level 2 by JOHN ESCOTT, and this was a short story.
The story about Dead Man's Island.
In the book "me" was the Carol Sanders. "I" lived in HongKong for seven years, and I had very happy life in HongKong, in my room there werer a lot of , But, one day, "my" father was died in plane crash.

[Emiel Geeraerts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carol lives with her father and mother in Hong Kong. Should her father on a business trip by plane. The day that the father comes back she hears that a plane accident. By Carol ride along with Carol to the plane and learns that her father has died. After such a heavy blow came Carol in a kind of depression. She learned bad friends know and she came into contact with drugs. Her mother couldn't take it anymore and decided to go back to England. Her mother find a new job. Her work is on a remote island somewhere in Scotland. The island is surrounded by dangerous cliffs and rocks. When they arrived, they meet Mr. Ross where they must work.While her mother works is Carol to helping on the farm. If only they'd come back a horse ride in the evening, she seeks her room window, but she sees that light lights up and she sees a shadow. A few days later, she comes back from work and they want to take a picture of the House, but just as they take the shot comes Mr. Ross. The gardener comes on Carol over and grabs the camera. The gardener said you no photo of Ross. She decides to go on research and runs to the window. See them under the door the light going out and that someone open the door is going to do. They quickly clogged and she sees how Mr. Ross comes out, locked the door and turns the key in the planter clogged next door. Mr. Ross had apparently Carol heard and shouts: "Is anyone there?" But Carol gives no kick. As Mr. Ross road is sneaks them to the door and she wants to open the door. But then she suddenly hears a voice behind her that says "that's Private!" It's Greta, the wife of Mr. Ross. And Carol does if or nothing happens is and runs away. The next day she runs to the door, picks up the key, and opens the door. She sees all posters of Jake Rosso; the singer who was killed in a car accident and the singer that Carol was so crazy about. Then came within Ross and Carol saw immediately that it was him.Just try Mr. Ross by a baulk but confess everything. He was indeed Jake Rosso. He put in an accident scene where he supposedly was killed. The island and so on were not by him but by his wife. Later she goes with her mother the island and goes to study them again. Now she is again very happy.

I found the book very good because I love voltage a detective stories.

I recommend this book highly, to people who love excitement and of detective stories. But if you don't like then I guess it still to because it is a beautiful book to read.

[Phebe Van Reeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dead man's island from John Escott

Summary: Dead man’s island from John Escott is about a young girl named Carol Sanders and her mother. She had a bad time when her dad died. She also had wrong friends and they took drugs. She went to England with her mom for a better life. Her mother wanted to work for Mr. Ross on an island. Her mother worked in the secretary for Mr. Ross and Carol helped her in the garden and on the farm. Strange things happened on the island. One of the strange things was that in a room she saw colored t-shirts, 3 guitars and posters of Jake Rosso, her favorite singer. When she looked closely at the posters she saw someone else's older face. It looked like Mr. Rosso. This will become clear. Carol thought that Mr.Ross had a big secret. One day she will find out. That she has discovered that Mr. ross was actually the so-called dead singer Jake Rosso. This was her favorite popstar. He staged it all. He pretended to have died in a car accident because he knocked over a 15-year-old girl while he was intoxicated.

My opinion: Good things about this book:
I find this is a nice book to read because you can empathize well with the main character. As an example: for the main character it is difficult and emotional and you experience this well. I like to read true stories and this story can also happen in real life. You stay in the story, and want to know what else happens. It is an exciting book. Bad things about this book: The story is a bit too predictable because you quickly realize that Mr. Ross was actually Jake Rosso, the deceased popstar. You may know this because the names are too similar. Mr. Ross stayed on the island and did not like visitors. Bad about the book: for Carol it was shocking to know that her favorite popstar was actually a liar, because he faked a car crash. He was a bad person earlier because he was taking alcohol and drugs and he hit a 15-year-old girl with his car and she died.

Conclusion: The book is worth reading because it is easy to read. You can easily follow the story from start to finish. You can really see the story in front of you. This means that you can empathize very well in the story.

[Luka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read the book Dead Man's Island by John Escott. The book is about a girl Carol who lived with her parents in Hong Kong until her father died in a plane accident. This was a hard blow to her and Carol stopped listening to the music of Jake Rosso, who also died in an accident. As a result of the accident, she dated the wrong friends and started using drugs. She also did not try as hard at school. She moved to England with her mother, until the mother could apply for a job somewhere and she was hired, which allowed them to live in a big house somewhere near Scotland. When they travelled, there they met Greta Ross, who told her that her husband never gets off the island. When Carol's mother works, she helps on the farm and there she also gets to ride a horse. she was riding a horse one evening and she looked for her window from the horse, but found another window where someone's shadow appeared. She didn't know which room that was. One day she entered the secret room and had a conversation with Mr. Ross, who actually used to be Jake Rosso, but he accidentally faked being someone else. Later, Carol and her mother moved and she lived a happier life.

My conclusion is that I like the book a lot, because this story can also occur in everyday life, such as the plane accident and then getting on the wrong path. What I don't like is that the book is predictable, for example with Mr Ross that Mr. Ross is Jake Rosso. I also like the genre because I read a lot of Dutch books in this genre which is excitement and adventure. The story is written in the first person so that you are actually living the story.


I recommend the book to everyone because it's easy to read. It is an exciting story that you can really empathize with. It's an exciting book, so if you like thrills you must read Dead Man's Island. The book also has a happy end which is always nice.

[Thomas Steegmans · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Escott, writer of Dead Man's Island did a marvelous job at writing this book! The story was intense right from the start all the way to the ver last word! I usually don't like to read books, but this one really made me want to read on. (Even during dinner, breakfast etc.) The story begins with young Carol who goes through a difficult time due to her father having an accident, making her live alone with her mother. Eventually Carol's mother finds a job on an island in Scotland where they get to live inside this big mansion. Soon, mysterious things happen. For example: Carol isn't allowed to take pictures of the mansion nor of Mr. Ross, the island's and mansion's owner.
Carol decides to investigate and soon discovers a secret that will change her life.

The writing style of this book was very interesting and easy to read. I didn't find it hard at all to read this book which I thought was a good thing because it gives you less pressure to read on. I also thought the character Carol was quite relatable at some points, especially in the beginning. If you're a teenager who's dealing with loss or puberty I really recommend this book for you!

[Ilian Verbruggen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a girl named Carol Sanders. Carol’s mother was offered a job by Mr Ross, but they have to travel to an island to get there. Everything seemed very good, but Carol discovered that Mr Ross had a big secret because he doesn’t like visitors on his island and nobody might take photos of him. Carol also found a room that was always locked and she wanted to know what was inside the room.

It is a book that is very easy to read. It’s also a thin book but there is more suspense in it than you can imagine. And that’s exactly what I like about a book. The book really is a page-turner, because when Carol was about to enter the room the chapter ended and I was so in suspense that I turned the page and kept on reading. The story is also written in a logical and chronological way. So there are no flashbacks or flash forward’s.

I recommend this book to everyone who doesn’t like reading that much and also to people who like suspense in a book, because it’s a thin book with a lot of suspense in it and it’s also very easy to read. A real page-turner.

[Abrar Alarjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy and fun .
it is useful to become a movie.
فتاة عندما مات أبوها تعاطت المخدرات ثم عملت أمها لدى رجل كسكرترية ثم أكشتفت بأن ذاك الرجل هو المغني الذي أعجبت به
وتكتشف كيف زيف موته لدى الإعلام والشرطة

[Yassmeen Altaif · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this story, is from exford for thats it is good to learn English, it's a easy and simple story.

It's about Carol and the change in her life.

[Delia · Rating 5 out of 5]

O carte foarte bună, mai ales dacă te afli în reading slump.

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5⭐️

That ending was probably one of the worst ones I’ve ever read and ruined the whole book for me

[Genevieve Ducharme · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐ Short and clearly for younger readers. I found it boring.

[Elsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

متن روان و قابل استفاده برای یادگیری و تقویت زبان

[Marieke.Baete]

This book is about a girl and a mother who lost their man/dad in a planecrash. They want to leave their past so they went to England because they found a text in a newspaper from a women who's searching for people who wants to work on her island. But on the island there is a strange atmosphere so the girl tried to find out what's happening and she came out a big secret of the man who's living there.

The book reads easily. I think that the book good is for people who likes mysteries. It's was exciting to read because it had many mysteries. So I would recommend it.

[Shuhei · Rating 4 out of 5]

1.Oxford level2
2.6/23=90min
3.Carol wrong way work England secret island
4.And so...I "killed" him.
"I" means Jake Rosso and "him" means Jake Rosso. He killed himself (not real meaning) to hide his crime. This expression is interesting.
5. Carol was a girl who liked his father and Jake Rosso (a singer) very much. Her favorite singer, Rosso, was already dead because of car accident, but she loved him. One day, her father was killed by air plane accident. She was very sad and she wrong her way because of shock. She got along with bad friends and had drags. Then, her friends are arrested and she had to quit collage. She and her mother move to England to redo their life. Her mother find a job. She began to work as a secretary in rich man's house. The house was built in private island. Carol liked gardening, so she work as a gardener and farmer in that house, too. But the owner of the house was strange. His name is James Ross and he didn't like to invite visitor to his house and island. One day, carol found a locked room. She looked it, then, Ross's wife said "Don't enter this room." After that, she saw Ross came out from that loom and hid its key under the plant pot. Next day, she entered that room to use key. Then, she saw lots of Jake Rosso's poster, guitars and his costumes. She noticed Jamese Ross was Jake Rosso! Then, Ross found Carol in the room and he revealed his secret. He was a famous pop star, but he had drags, so he did lots of stupid things. Finally, he killed a girl by his car. He didn't want to be arrested, so he broke his car and burned. Police and people thought Jake Rosso was dead. He tried to change his appearance and name. He wanted to be changed. Carol was too. She wanted to be changed. Therefore, she keep the secret and she and her mother quit this job. After that, they spent comfortable life.
I could guess this story in the beginning because Ross and Rosso are very similar name. And after that, story went on like I imagined. So I felt me like a detective. It was rally comfortable for me!

[Elien Janssens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead Man’s Island is written by John Escott, he wrote many books for people who start reading in English. Carol starts to tell about her past. Her dad died in a plane crash. She lived in Hong Kong together with her mom, but now she has moved to Scotland. Her mother works for a rich man on an island. On the island, Carol discovers a big secret.

I am going to give my opinion about the book. First of all I want to tell about the pictures. With the pictures in the book, you understand more about the story. Because of that you can’t stop reading it. You can really see the story in front of you. A negative point is that the titles from the chapters are in the middle of the text. When you stop reading the book, it is difficult to find the next time where you were.
My last thing I want to talk about is the glossary In the book. It’s helping people who start reading English books. When you don’t understand a word, you can find it in the glossary.

I really liked the book. I hope more people want to read it and enjoy it as much as I do.

[Hatodi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everyone had secrets, but it isn't easy to forget the past.

[Brent Kafkot]

I found this book very nice to read, if you are in the story, you stay in the story, you can sympathize with the main character, it is really a must to read!
Of course, this story can really have happened, think of a plane that crashes, you sit at home and hear that, and later you get to hear that your own father has died ...

You can sympathize with the protagonist in the story, even if you do not know what it feels like to lose your father, you usually know what it's like to move, which happens twice in this story.

I think the book is a bit sad, especially the protagonist, Her favorite popstar is deceased by an accident and after that her father in an accident with an airplane, and later she finds out that her favorite pop star is still alive, and has played everything .

Because you stay in the story, and want to know what happens next, it's an exciting book, but it's a bit predictable that Mr. Ross is actually Jake Rosso, the deceased pop star.
The name is too similar, and I actually had it when I read that Mr. Ross, did not leave the island, and did not like visitors

[Natascha Goossens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Dead Man’s Island that is written by John Escott, this writer wrote a big number of books for people who start reading in English. I found it an easy book for began reading in English because it was my first book in an other language than Dutch. Carol starts to tell about her past and goes to the future. Her dad was in Australia fort wo weeks. Carols dad died in a plane crash. The flight where he was in was from Sydney. She lived in Hong Kong together with her mom (she was a secretary), but now she has moved to Scotland to get an new job. Her mother works for a rich man on an secret island. On the island, there was an secret room in the house. That room was always locked. Carol know the big secret and his whole life change completely. But the reason why it was locked, you know if you read the book.

I am going to give my opinion about the book. First of all I look into this book and thought this is really small written. Than I look to the pictures. With the pictures in this book, I could understand the whole story of this more than without pictures. The pictures in this book make a difference to me because I could understand the whole story. I can’t stop reading this book because it was so an exciting and interesting book. It is a book that you may imagine the whole story in your mind and that’s the reason you can’t stop reading it. The negative point of this book for me is that I didn’t understand why the titles of the chapters weren’t at the top of a page. When I stopped reading this book and close it, I couldn’t find the page I was reading and that was for me very disappointing. At the end of the book you know the big secret on the island an that was very good that you know why that’s the title of that book. An positive point is that the glossary in the back of this book helps me a lot because my English is not good and I didn’t understand all the words of the book but with the glossary I succeed to read this book to the end.

I really liked the book as much I do. I found this my favourite book in an other language than Dutch. I found this book realy exciting and I hope you to when you read it. Enjoy it!

[Wild Flower 🌸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

What should I make out of this book 🙂 he killed someone, he is hiding behind a fake personality, he is punishing himself but is not turning himself to the authorities, and she is hiding him and keeping him in his cocoon because she feels the same…

I might be able to over analyze it later… but for now that’s all what I have.. the family twist though was a good one!

[Elien Janssens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead Man’s Island is written by John Escott, he wrote many books for people who start reading in English. Carol starts to tell about her past. Her dad died in a plane crash. She lived in Hong Kong together with her mom, but now she has moved to Scotland. Her mother works for a rich man on an island. On the island, Carol discovers a big secret.

I am going to give my opinion about the book. First of all I want to tell about the pictures. With the pictures in the book, you understand more about the story. Because of that you can’t stop reading it. You can really see the story in front of you.
A negative point is that the titles from the chapters are in the middle of the text. When you stop reading the book, it is difficult to find the next time where you were.
My last thing I want to talk about is the glossary In the book. It’s helping people who start reading English books. When you don’t understand a word, you can find it in the glossary.

I really liked the book. I hope more people want to read it and enjoy it as much as I do.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Dead Man's Island"by John Escott is about the a family of three lives in Hongkong, they father died in a car accident，then they returned to live in England.They were on an island, and her mother was Mr. Ross's secretary，daughter found a locked house on the island, then she tried to get in, but Mrs. ROSS angrily refused，In the evening she saw a man come out of the house and put the key in the flowerpot，After that she sneaked into the room and saw photos of dead singers inside.But she was discovered by Mr. Ross. Mr.Ross talk to her, He killed a child in a car accident. In order to escape his guilt, he made a false impression that everyone thought the singer was dead after the accident.Then she helped him keep the secret.From this book, I learned to be responsible for what I did and take responsibility for my own mistakes.

[Nima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today, I finished a short story. It was named'' Dead man's island'' written by John Escott. The story is speaking about a weird man on a strange island. In this story is speaking about a big secret. What about your secret? Who knows your secret? Have faith about that person?