具体描述
内容简介
It's no ordinary Thursday for Marvin Redpost and his class...
It's "hole day," and even Mrs. North and Principal McCabe are wearing their very worst clothes. It seemed like a fun idea that morning, but now they're expecting company. The president -- of the United States! -- is on his way. And there's no time to change! Marvin must do math on the blackboard with television cameras pointed at him. And the day is just beginning! 作者简介
Louis Sachar lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Carla, their daughter, Sherre, and their two dogs, Lucky and Tippy. In his spare time Louis likes to play bridge. Carla likes to read. Sherre likes to play with her friends. Lucky likes to catch Frisbees. Tippy likes to chew up shoes, fan letters, and Sherre's favorite toys. They all try to be good citizens, except, perhaps, Tippy. 精彩书评
"Aside from being resoundingly funny, Sachar has a rare honesty about what children really encounter in the world."
--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 精彩书摘
Chapter 1
There was a red post out in front of Marvin Redpost's house. The rest of the fence was white. Marvin tapped the post for luck as he walked through the gate on his way to school.
He wore a pair of blue jeans with a hole over each knee. It was "hole day" at school.
Every day had been special this week. Monday, he had to wear socks that didn't match. Tuesday, everyone wore T-shirts that came from a vacation. Wednesday, yesterday, had been hat day. And today, everyone had to wear clothes with holes.
His two best friends, Nick and Stuart, were waiting for him at the corner.
"Do you think Mrs. North will wear clothes with holes?" asked Stuart.
"Sure, why not?" asked Marvin.
"No way!" said Nick. "I'll bet you a million dollars!"
Nick had also said there was "no way!" Mrs. North would wear mis-matched socks. He had also said there was "no way!" she would let the kids wear hats in class.
So far, he owed Marvin two million dollars.
Nick was wearing a T-shirt that had a large hole under his right armpit. It had been torn in a fight.
"She probably doesn't even own any clothes with holes," Nick said. "How could a teacher get holes in her clothes?"
"Moths," said Marvin. "She might have a wool sweater. Moths eat wool."
"Actually, moths don't really eat wool," Stuart pointed out. "Everybody thinks that, but really, it's the caterpillars that eat the wool."
Stuart was wearing a T-shirt that also had a large hole under the right armpit. It had been torn in a fight.
It was the same fight.
Nick and Stuart had fought each other. But now they were friends.
"You want to come over after school today?" Nick asked.
"Okay," said Stuart.
"I can't," said Marvin. "My mom is taking me to the shoe store. I'm going to my cousin's bar mitzvah on Saturday."
When they got to school, everybody they saw had holes in their clothes. Travis wore a shirt that was more hole than it was shirt. Clarence had a hole in his sneaker and his sock, so his big toe stuck all the way through.
"You should clip your toenail," said Marvin.
"You should clip your mouth!" said Clarence.
That didn't really make sense, but Marvin got the point. Clarence was the toughest kid in his class.
The bell rang, and everybody lined up and went to class.
Mrs. North was waiting in the classroom. She had a large hole in her shirt, over her stomach.
Marvin stopped and stared. He could see Mrs. North's belly button.
Nick now owed him three million dollars.
Chapter 2
Casey Happleton sat at the desk next to Marvin. She was absent today.
Marvin was disappointed to see her desk empty. She was a funny girl, and he knew she would have liked "hole day."
"I must say," said Mrs. North, "you are all so well dressed today. I've never seen a better-looking group of third graders."
Everybody laughed.
"How'd you get a hole in your shirt?" Kenny asked.
"I was working in my garden," said Mrs. North. "My shirt got snagged on a thorn from a rosebush."
Marvin nodded. He should have guessed.
"We should dress this way all the time," said Judy Jasper. "That way, nobody would feel bad if their parents were too poor to buy them new clothes."
"That's a good idea," said Mrs. North.
Marvin thought so, too.
"And the holes keep you cool on a hot day," Stuart pointed out.
"You're right," said Mrs. North.
Marvin agreed. Holes made perfect sense. He wondered why nobody had thought of it before.
A child's voice came over the P.A. system. "Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance."
Every day, a different kid got to lead the school in the pledge.
"That's Casey!" said Judy Jasper.
Marvin recognized Casey's voice as she recited the pledge. She sounded very serious.
He put his hand over his heart and said it along with her.
When Casey came back to class, she told Mrs. North that Mr. McCabe wanted to see her. Mr. McCabe was the principal.
"Did he say why?" Mrs. North asked.
Casey shook her head.
Casey wore a shirt that was way too big for her. Marvin guessed it was her father's. Not only did it have holes in it, but it also had paint spilled on it.
Mrs. North told the class she would be gone for only a minute. She said she expected everyone to behave and to use their time wisely.
After she left, Nick said, "I bet you Mrs. North got in trouble for wearing torn clothes!"
"No, Mr. McCabe is also wearing torn clothes," said Casey. "I saw his elbow."
"What did it look like?" asked Judy.
"Pink and bumpy," said Casey.
Casey had a ponytail that stuck out of the side of her head instead of the back. She sat down next to Marvin. The ponytail was on Marvin's side. Sometimes, when Casey laughed really hard, her ponytail went around in circles.
Mrs. North was gone for a lot longer than a minute. When she returned, she had a very strange expression on her face. She looked lost. She opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.
"Are you all right?" asked Kenny.
Mrs. North looked at Kenny, but still didn't say anything. Finally, she spoke. She said, "We are..." then stopped.
She started again. "There will..."
That was as far as she got.
She tried again. "I expect..."
Her mouth shut tight. She tapped her desk with her fist.
At last she managed to say a complete sentence. "We are going to have a visitor today."
Marvin couldn't wait to hear who it was. From the way Mrs. North was acting, he thought it must be somebody weird.
"Who is it?" asked Warren.
"Is it somebody I've heard of?" asked Nick.
"Oh, I hope so, Nick," said Mrs. North. Then she took a deep breath and said, "The president will be coming here."
Everybody gasped.
Marvin was a little confused. He wasn't sure which president Mr. North meant. Did she mean the president of the United States? Or did she mean the president of something else, like the president of a shoe company?
Marvin's school was in Maryland. It was less than twenty miles from Washington, D.C. His father worked in Washington, D.C. So it was possible that Mrs. North meant the president of the United States. But why would the president of the United States come to his school?
He raised his hand.
Pasty Gatsby raised her hand, too.
"Yes, Patsy," said Mrs. North.
"The president of what?" Patsy asked.
Mrs. North stared at her as if she thought Patsy was an alien from another planet. "The president of the United States," she said.
"Duh!" said Travis.
Patsy blushed.
"Sometimes I wonder about you, Patsy," said Mrs. North.
"What'd you think? The president of Mexico?" asked Clarence.
Marvin turned red, too, but nobody noticed. He lowered his hand.
"Yes, Marvin, did you have a question?" asked Mrs. North.
He shook his head. "No, I was just stretching."
Mrs. North explained that even Mr. McCabe hadn't known the president was coming until ten minutes ago. It had been kept secret for security reasons.
"Now, I know I don't have to tell you how to behave when the president gets here," she said.
Then she told everybody how to behave.
"Be respectful. Be attentive. If you get a chance to speak to him, remember to speak loud and clear. You should call him 'Mr. President.' 'Yes, Mr. President.' 'Thank you, Mr. President.' Remember to -- "
Mrs. North suddenly stopped talking. "Oh, my gosh!" she exclaimed. "I have to change my clothes!"
好的,这是一份为一本虚构的儿童读物撰写的详细图书简介,该书名为《星辰之下的秘密图书馆》(The Secret Library Beneath the Stars),目标读者年龄为6-9岁。 --- 《星辰之下的秘密图书馆》 作者:艾莉丝·文森特(Alice Vincent) 插画:本杰明·霍尔(Benjamin Hall) 一本关于友谊、勇气和未被发现的魔法世界的奇妙冒险故事。 献给所有相信夜空比我们想象的更近一点的孩子。 --- 故事梗概: 在宁静的月光镇,坐落着一座看似平凡的公共图书馆,它的名字是“静水书馆”。镇上的孩子们都喜欢来这里,但他们并不知道,这座图书馆的地下深处,隐藏着一个足以改变世界的秘密。 故事的主人公是十岁的莉拉(Lila)。莉拉是一个安静、好奇心旺盛的女孩,她最大的特点是对星象和古老符号有着异乎寻常的敏感。她不像其他孩子那样热衷于电子游戏,而是更喜欢在图书馆的角落里,用手指摩挲着泛黄的书页,想象着那些被遗忘的文明。 一天傍晚,当图书馆即将关门时,莉拉发现了一本封面绘有复杂星图的无名古书。这本书散发着微弱的、仿佛来自遥远宇宙的幽光。当她无意中触碰到书页中央的一个螺旋标记时,图书馆深处的地板忽然震动起来,空气中弥漫开一股夹杂着檀香和雨后泥土的奇特气味。 面前的巨大橡木书架缓缓向两侧移开,露出了一个深邃的、向下延伸的圆形石阶——星辰之下的秘密图书馆。 这个地下世界完全颠覆了莉拉对“图书馆”的认知。这里没有昏暗的灯光和安静的规则。高耸的拱形穹顶上,并非岩石,而是流动着银河般的光芒,仿佛将整个夜空都装在了这个地下空间里。书架不再是木制的,而是由闪烁着微光的矿物构成,上面摆放的书籍,其书脊会根据阅读者的心情变换颜色。 在这里,文字不再只是墨水,它们是活的。有些书页上的字会自行跳舞,有些会低声讲述它们记载的故事,有些甚至会暂时具象化书中的场景——一头会喷出金色火花的幼龙,一艘在无声的海洋中航行的船只。 莉拉很快发现,她不是这个秘密图书馆的唯一访客。她遇见了两个伙伴: 1. 提姆(Tim): 一个精力充沛、行动力极强的男孩,他对机械和发明有着惊人的天赋。他坚信这个图书馆的运作依赖着某种复杂的、失传的“光能引擎”。 2. 萨菲娅(Sophia): 一位年纪稍长,言语不多但观察力极强的女孩,她似乎能“听见”书本的心跳声,对语言的结构有着天生的理解力。 三人组成了一个临时的探险队,他们共同的目标是解开这个秘密图书馆存在的真正目的,以及如何利用它的力量。 核心冲突与冒险: 很快,他们发现这个图书馆正面临危机。它依靠着一种被称为“记忆之尘”的能量维持运转,而这种能量正在迅速流失。流失的原因,与镇上一个名叫“墨守成规先生”(Mr. Pedantic)的古怪老头有关。他坚信“一切事物都必须被归档、被编号、被严格控制”,他无法容忍图书馆中那种自由、混乱、充满想象力的“非结构化知识”。他正在通过某种不为人知的方法,试图“净化”图书馆的能量,将其变成一个普通、冰冷、只有事实记录的档案室。 莉拉、提姆和萨菲娅必须利用各自的特长,在墨守成规先生的干扰下,穿越图书馆深处那些越来越具挑战性的“知识区域”: 迷宫书架区: 书架会不断重组,只有找到描述“方向”的古老地图,才能走出迷宫。 情绪花园: 一片由故事中的情绪具象化而成的奇异植物区。如果探险者带着恐惧进入,植物就会释放出令人麻痹的阴影藤蔓。他们必须学会平静和共情才能通过。 时间的沙漏之塔: 在这里,阅读速度决定了时间的快慢。提姆必须修复一个失衡的机械装置,以稳定时间流速,否则他们将在其中被困数十年。 友谊与成长的力量: 在这次冒险中,三人深刻体会到,真正的知识不仅仅是书本上的信息,更是运用知识、互相协作和相信彼此想象力的过程。莉拉学会了鼓起勇气,不再只躲在书本的后面;提姆意识到蛮干不如精确思考;而萨菲娅也终于开口,分享了她对语言魔力的深刻见解。 最终,他们明白,要拯救这个充满魔法的图书馆,他们不能只是“阅读”它,而是要“参与”它。他们必须通过一个失落的仪式,将他们对阅读的热爱、对想象力的坚信,重新注入到“记忆之尘”的核心中去。 本书亮点: 奇幻的场景描写: 带领小读者进入一个充满视觉震撼的地下奇境,感受“活着的书”的魔力。 主题深刻而适龄: 探讨了想象力与规则、自由知识与僵化教条之间的平衡。 强调团队合作: 三位主角性格迥异,但只有团结一致才能克服挑战。 插画精美(虚构): 本杰明·霍尔的插画将捕捉到地下图书馆那种既古老又充满未来感的氛围。 适合阅读人群: 热爱阅读、对神秘事物感到好奇、喜欢室内探险故事的6至9岁儿童。特别适合那些第一次开始独立阅读长篇章节书的孩子,情节引人入胜,节奏把握得当,确保了阅读的乐趣和成就感。 《星辰之下的秘密图书馆》——翻开它,你将不再只是一个读者,你将成为故事的一部分。