Blood Kind: An ESL Easy Read

By Clare Harris

His name is Josh – or is that Ben? When you make fake passports and ID cards for a living, you need a few different names, right? Ben doesn’t like people much, and he certainly doesn’t believe in kindness. Then he has an accident, gets a blood transfusion – and things begin to change. Ben starts to feel kind, but that creates big problems in his life...

What’s going on? What is the lovely Elli doing when she gives blood? And why will no one believe Ben?

ESL Easy Reads are books for learners of English as a new language, or for anyone wanting a short, sharp ‘easy read’.

Australian (British) English, Adult/Young Adult, Intermediate level.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clare Harris
• Release date: Sep 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781922191021

Clare Harris

Clare Harris lives in Perth, Western Australia (one of the most isolated cities in the world!). Writing ESL readers draws on her three favourite things: writing, teaching English and drinking coffee.Clare has taught English as a volunteer tutor in the UK, as a migrant English teacher in Australia, in refugee camps in Thailand, and in workplaces and factories. Now she publishes ESL materials at The Book Next Door and here, online.Her little (but always taller) sister Emma Laybourn is a children’s author (Megamouse Books).

Book preview

Blood Kind

An ESL Easy Read

Clare Harris

Copyright © 2012 by Clare Harris

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 978-1-922191-02-1 

Cover Art by Cory Clubb|Go Bold Designs

Illustrations by Karolina Dziewa

Edited by Karin Cox

Formatting by Heather Adkins|CyberWitch Press, LLC

Chapter 1

Ow! My head hurt! I opened my eyes and moved a little. Where was I?

I could see three beds … three hospital beds?

Hello there! said a nurse. You’re back with us. Do you know where you are? Can you tell me your name?

Oh no! Of course I could remember my real name, but what was the name on the ID in my wallet? Was it Ben Smith? Or Josh Green?

I closed my eyes. Later, another nurse appeared.

Hello there, Josh, he said. Do you fancy a cup of tea?

I picked up the cup, and noticed the name band around my wrist. Yes, Josh Green. When the doctor arrived, I gave the right answers.

So, Josh, she said, you had a nasty cut on your head, but you’re looking much better. You remember your name; that’s good. Can you remember what happened to you?

I shook my head. Ow! That was a mistake. No, nothing.

Can you tell me what you do?

I’m an artist, I said.

Really? Now she was interested. Everybody loves to meet an artist.

And it was true. I was an artist: a passport artist. An ID artist. None of your cheap rubbish, your passport factories—no, no! My fake passports were the best. They were top quality. But I