书名：Castle in the Air空中城堡

难度：Lexile蓝思阅读指数890 

作者：Diana Wynne Jones戴安娜·韦恩·琼斯

出版社名称：Greenwillow Books 

出版时间：2008 

语种：英文 

ISBN：9780061478772 

商品尺寸：13 x 2 x 19.4 cm 

包装：平装 

页数：384 Castle in the Air《空中城堡》是英文幻想文学大师戴安娜·韦恩·琼斯创作的“城堡系列”小说之一，为“哈尔的移动城堡”三部曲之二。

推荐理由： 1.宫崎骏动画《哈尔的移动城堡》原著小说后续之作，不可不读； 2.用词浅显易懂，对词汇量要求较低，适合中学及以上水平的读者阅读； 3.印刷清晰，字体行间距较大，便于阅读，书本轻巧，方便携带。 Grade 6 Up—In this sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle, Jones once again exercises her talent for humor in a lively fantasy adventure. It is not necessary to read Howl first; the story stands strongly on its own. In fact, fans of Jones’ earlier book may be puzzled at first as to what the connection could be… until they glimpse hovering on the horizon a castle like cloud… or is it a cloud like castle? At any rate, the story begins as Abdullah, a humble carpet merchant in the marketplace of Zanzib, acquires a flying carpet and lands in the midst of a series of fantastic adventures. The cast of characters includes an evil djinn, beautiful princesses, a genie in a bottle, women-turned-cats, and soldiers-turned-frogs. This is the Arabian Nights with a twist. Readers may be breathless from the rapid changes of scene and quick pace of events, but they won’t put down the book until they figure out all its secrets. 阿卜杜拉绝对是个优秀出众的地毯商人。他既会漫天开价，也懂就地还价，买半只骆驼都不够的金币到了他手中，就能换来一张神奇的飞天魔毯；他礼数有加且能说会道，就连喜欢闹别扭的瓶中精灵，也能因为他的几句赞美而成为他的助手；他英俊而又不失温柔，美丽的公主夜之花只与他见过一次面，就瞬间坠入爱河……

然而，爱情却永远不如想象中的顺风顺水。一个静谧的夜晚，美丽的夜之花竟毫无预兆地被掳走了！这一次，摆在阿卜杜拉的面前对手可不是普通人，而是强大的神灵！ 坏脾气的瓶中精灵、时常有些靠不住的魔毯——这就是阿卜杜拉所能仰仗的全部。神灵不是任人摆布的顾客，他真的能与神对抗吗？所幸，神奇的哈尔一家，给他带来了仅有的一丝期望…… Young merchant Abdullah leads a humble life. Or he did until a stranger sold him a threadbare—and disagreeable—magic carpet. Now Abdullah is caught in the middle of his grand daydreams. Waking one night in a luxurious garden, he meets and falls instantly in love with the beautiful and clever Flower-in-the-Night. But a wicked djinn sweeps the princess away right before Abdullah’s eyes, leaving the young man no choice but to follow. This is no ordinary quest, however, for Flower-in-the-Night isn’t all the djinn has stolen. Abdullah will have the so-called help of the cantankerous carpet, a cranky genie in a bottle, a dishonest soldier, and a very opinionated black cat. Will this motley crew be able to find the djinn’s mysterious dwelling and rescue a castle full of princesses? 戴安娜•韦恩•琼斯（1934－2011）是杰出的幻想小说作家，写作出色的幻想小说已有三十多个年头。凭借漫无边际的想象力，她的故事糅合了精彩的情节，热情的幽默感，和动人的真理，为各年龄层的读者所喜欢。她的作品受到国际褒奖并获得了一系列荣誉，包括两次“波士顿环球报号角书奖”以及英国幻想协会卡尔•爱德华•瓦格纳奖——以肯定她在幻想文学领域的重大影响。著名导演动画家宫崎骏改编了《哈尔的移动城堡》，拍摄成一部出色的电影，获得了奥斯卡奖提名。

Diana Wynne Jones has been writing outstanding fantasy novels for more than thirty years and is one of the most distinguished writers in this field. With unlimited imagination, she combines dazzling plots, an effervescent sense of humor, and emotional truths in stories that delight readers of all ages. Her books, published to international acclaim, have earned a wide array of honors, including two Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honors, the British Fantasy Society’s Karl Edward Wagner Award for having made a significant impact on fantasy, and the World Fantasy Society Lifetime Achievement Award. Acclaimed director and animator Hayao Miyazaki adapted her international bestseller Howl’s Moving Castle into a major motion picture, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Far to the south of the land of Ingary, in the Sultanates of Rashpuht, a young carpet merchant called Abdullah lived in the city of Zanzib. As merchants go, he was not rich. His father had been disappointed in him, and when he died, he had only left Abdullah just enough money to buy and stock a modest booth in the northwest corner of the Bazaar. The rest of his father’s money, and the large carpet emporium in the center of the Bazaar, had all gone co the relatives of his father’s first wife. Abdullah had never been told why his father was disappointed in him. A prophecy made at Ahdullah’s birth had something to do with it. But Abdullah had never bothered to find out more. 

Instead, from a very early age, he had simply made up daydreams about it. In his daydreams, he was really the long-lost son of a great prince, which meant, of course, that his father was not really his father. It was a complete castle in the air, and Abdullah knew it was. Everyone told him he inherited his father’s looks. When he looked in a mirror, he saw a decidedly handsome young man, in a thin, hawk-faced way, and knew he looked very like the portrait of his father as a young man, always allowing for the fact that his father wore a nourishing mustache, whereas Abdullah was still scraping together the six hairs on his upper lip and hoping they would multiply soon.