Lion dancers are the new sensations in Asia, and none are as charming or handsome as US import Ricky Ang. But while the rest of the Leopop boys aspire to be the lion head, Ricky would rather goof around as the big head doll. Ironically, drummer girl Ong Ying Ying is the biggest cynic of this Leopop wave. “Don’t fall for a lion dancer,” her mother had always warned her. “He will break your heart.”

Prome has taken over the popular Lion Legends as the Principal Lion Head and big brother. Taking his new role very seriously, he decides to make a pact with his loyal lion partner Mercury to ban dating and concentrate on their careers. But their plans go awry when both meet two curious girls with strong personalities. Meanwhile, the Legends find themselves under attack. First it was cyberbullying, then a garbage bomb and an almost fatal food poisoning. Why is this anti-fan targeting Prome and Mercury?

Lion dance troupes from across Asia have gathered in Singapore to challenge the Lion Legends to the race of a lifetime. The stakes? The troupe’s future! As jealousy and betrayal swirl, Apple, the Legends’ youngest idol, finds that he must be the one to keep the brotherhood together. At the same time, he meets Charm, a fiery, monkey-like tomboy he can’t help but be drawn to…

Li'l Dan, a slave on a Southern plantation, loves to play his drum. When a company of Union soldiers announce that the slaves have been set free, Dan has no place to go, so he follows the soldiers, who make him their mascot. But Confederate soldiers attack, and Dan discovers that he is the only one who can save his friends. The only children's book ever written and illustrated by legendary American artist Romare Bearden, Li'l Dan, the Drummer Boy was just recently discovered. Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. has written a personal introduction to the book, describing his own memories of the artist while Bearden created this memorable tale. On an accompanying CD, Dr. Maya Angelou, three-time Grammy Award winner for spoken word recordings, reads the text.

Charlie is a promiscuous, unsuccessful English actress in her twenties. Intrigued by a handsome, solitary stranger, she finds herself lured into the “theatre of the real.” For the mysterious man is Kurtz, an embattled Israeli intelligence officer out to stop the bombing of Jews in Europe. Forced to play her most challenging role, Charlie is plunged into a deceptive and delicate trap set to ensnare an elusive Palestinian terrorist … and soon proves herself a double agent of the highest order.

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series. Please note that the eBook edition does NOT include access to the audio edition and digital book. Written for learners of English as a foreign language, each title includes carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. Lion, a Level 4 Reader, is A2+ in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing more complex uses of present perfect simple, passives, phrasal verbs and simple relative clauses. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly. Five-year-old Saroo gets on the wrong train in India and is taken thousands of miles to the city of Kolkata. After months of living on the streets, he is adopted by a family in Australia. Many years later, Saroo decides to try and find his Indian family.

What happens when you fall in love with your Kuya’s best friend? Thea Balderama, a 220-pound late bloomer, believes that she will never meet her mother’s incredibly high standards for beauty. Worse, while Thea deals with her deep-seated insecurities about her weight, she must also study to get into her dream university while keeping up with her boy-crazy best friends. Her life becomes even more complicated when Lucas Benitez, her Kuya’s best friend, (and her longtime crush!), returns from the States. As her attraction to Lucas grows, Thea cooks for him, pouring her passion into irresistible merienda, hoping to reach her crush’s heart through his stomach, in the hopes that he will think she’s beautiful—fat and all. Though Thea knows nothing is a piece of cake, she has a hopeful heart, and she’s hungry for love. Being with Lucas might just be worth the risk.

A naughty cat steals the rose Lazlo intends to give to the actress he loves, setting off a wild chase through the theater during a production of Alice in Wonderland. Includes author's note about theatrical superstitions.

In the Nation, citizenship is competitively earned, and the sting of failure strikes swift. The smallest professional blemish may spell demotion or even deportation to offshore labour communities called Depositories, while the affluent are insured against all misfortune and can do no wrong. Santhosh is a Transient student hoping to ace the Civil Primaries and make Citizen the following year, when his father is suddenly deported and State agents murder his guardian’s entire family. Adopted by a motley band of fugitives who hold wealthy Citizens ransom for a shot at freedom, Santhosh searches for his father and struggles to keep his integrity in a world where the only true choices are luxuries.