For generations, young people all over the world have taken an interest in social justice and found the courage to fight for their own rights and the rights of others. Here are four inspiring middle grade books that prove you’re never too young to stand up for what you believe in and make a difference.
This series follows 11-year-old Parvana, who lives under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. When her father is arrested and her family is left without someone who can work or even shop for food, Parvana, forbidden to earn money as a girl, disguises herself as a boy to help her family survive. The Breadwinner is an empowering tale with a sharp and brave heroine.
Stella lives in the separated south in 1932. Out, late one night, wandering around, Stella and her brother witness a Klu Klux Klan activity, starting an unwelcome chain of events in her otherwise sleepy town. With a compelling and courageous voice, Stella tells the story of how she and her community ban together against racism and injustice.
When Julian is sent to stay with his disinterested aunt and uncle for four months, he discovers that his Uncle’s corporation plans to cut down a group of redwood trees at Big Tree Grove and decides to take a stand to save the trees. Perfect for the young environmentalists in your life, Operation Redwood is an adventurous tale as Julian and his friends hatch scheme after scheme to save these giants of nature.
For more mature readers, this unforgettable autobiography tells the true story of Nujood Ali, a ten-year-old Yemeni girl married off at a young age, who decides to resist her abusive husband and get a divorce. A moving tale of tragedy, triumph, and courage, Nujood’s brave resistance has inspired generations of women and young girls.
1. What is the purpose of the four books?| A．To call for people to find the courage. |
| B．To show the definition of social justice. |
| C．To inspire young people to make a difference. |
| D．To prove young people can fight for the rights. |
| A．An adult who shows interest in human nature. |
| B．A college student who majors in human rights. |
| C．A middle school student who is interested in science. |
| D．A high school student who wants to protect the environment. |
| A．I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. | B．Stella by Starlight. |
| C．The Breadwinner Trilogy. | D．Operation Redwood. |
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【推荐1】You're never too young to make contributions to your community.
Members of Gen Z are creative and responsible, making them perfectly ready to help handle the world's problems through volunteering.
If you want to make a difference in your community, or be a part of something bigger than yourself, then this is the place to start. Here are a few organizations of Gen Z with volunteer opportunities for teens!
Habitat for Humanity
Everyone deserves to have a place they call home. By volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, you can play a role in building up your community. Their Habitat Youth Programs accept volunteers between the ages of 5 and 40.
Meals on Wheels
For those teens who just got their licenses (执照), here's a volunteer opportunity that will make driving worthwhile. 200 million meals have been delivered so far. You can connect with your local provider to get involved. Meals on Wheels is on a mission to meet the nutritional and social needs of the elderly.
Key Club
As the oldest service program for high school students, the Key Club has quite a history of helping teens get involved in volunteering. Because clubs are student-led, you get a direct say in the kinds of service projects you want to do. Chances are, there's already a chapter in your school, but if not, you can try taking the lead in one.
Best Buddies
Volunteer with Best Buddies to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and you can make them connected with other people. Join a school chapter (or start your own) to use friendship as a tool to improve the sense of belonging in your community.
And don't worry. Even if you can't volunteer physically, there are also tons of online volunteer opportunities available! Find out more about joining a worthwhile volunteer organization at www. Gen Z.org.
1. If you want to help people with disabilities, you can join ________.| A．Key Club | B．Meals on Wheels |
| C．Best Buddies | D．Habitat for Humanity |
| A．make nutritional meals | B．drive the seniors around |
| C．teach the seniors to drive | D．send meals to the elderly |
| A．A branch of a club. | B．A period of life. |
| C．An office on campus. | D．A part of a book. |
An Australian wedding ceremony might feature the tradition of a Unity Bowl. Guests are given stones and asked to hold then during the ceremony. At the end, guests place the stones in a decorative bowl that the couple will keep and display afterwards, to remind them of the support and presence of their friends and family.
Blackening, Scotland
In this Scottish tradition, the bride, groom, or both are taken out on the day before their wedding, provided with alcohol, and covered in treacle(糖浆), ash, feathers, and flour by friends and family. The celebratory mess was originally cried out to avoid evil spirits and bring good luck.
A Goose for the Bride, Korea
According to Korean tradition, grooms once gave their mother-in-law wild geese or ducks; they are monogamous (一夫一妻制的) animals and represent the groom’s pure intentions and loyalty to his bride. In a more modern tradition, brides and grooms exchange wooden geese and ducks on their wedding day as a sign of their commitment.
Bridal Sedans and Red Umbrellas, China
A traditional Chinese wedding features a full procession, with the bride escorted to the ceremony in bridal sedan. Red is a powerful colour in Chinese weddings, symbolizing boldness, luck, and love. According to tradition, the bride wears a red veil to hide her face, and her mother or attendant holds a red umbrella over the bride’s head, a superstition (迷信) to encourage fertility (生有) and grow here own family.
1. In an Australian wedding ceremony, guests can often see ______.| A．red umbrellas | B．bowls filled with stones |
| C．wild animals | D．a drunk newly-wedding couple |
| A．Korea & China | B．Scotland & China |
| C．Australia & Korea | D．Australia & Scotland |
| A．Guests play tricks on the brides and the grooms. |
| B．The brides and the grooms exchange wedding rings. |
| C．Gusts give expensive presents to the brides and the grooms. |
| D．The brides and the grooms are blessed with best wishes and good luck. |
【推荐3】Best Books of All Time
If you want to fill your shelves with the best books of all time, you’re in the right place.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein(1974)
The imagination of Shel Silverstein is on fall display in this classic collection of short stories and poems. Where the Sidevalk Ends is truly one of the best poetry books of all time because of is staying power for children. The stories of this American poet, author, singer, and folk artist have something for everyone.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy(1878)
Most critics regard it as one of the most iconic literary love stories. Leo Tolstoy’s Russian tale of unfortunate lovers is filed with fascinating quotes like,“He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” Described by Fyodor Dostoevsky as “flawless”, this one belongs on any book collector’s shelf.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery(1943)
The Little Prince is a timeless tale of a prince’s journey from planet to planet in search of adventure. What he finds,however, are interactions with adults who leave him frustrated. In the Saharn Desert, he runs into the book’s narrator,and the two start an eight-day journey filled with lessons. It’s one of the most compelling short books we’ve ever read. It’s also one of the most widely read children’s classics all over the world. Whether you prefer reading in English,French, or another language, you’re bound to find a copy.
The Shining by Stephen King(1977)
The master of suspense must be included in any list of books you should read in a lifetime. That’s why you’ll find Stephen King’s The Shining here. Jack Torrance is a middle-aged man looking for a fresh start. He thinks he’s found it when he lands a job as the caretaker at an old hotel, the Overlook. But as snow piles higher outside, the hotel begins to feel more evil and dangerous, less freeing and more annoying. Horror fans, take note; This is one of the scariest and best Stephen King books of all time.
1. In which book can we read about lovers?| A．Where the Sidewalk End. | B．Anna Karenina. |
| C．The Little Prince. | D．The Shining. |
| A．They are both talking about adults. |
| B．They were both written in the 19408. |
| C．They are both love stories. |
| D．They are both for children. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Sports. | C．Culture. | D．History. |
【推荐1】5 of the Best O. Henry Short Stories Everyone Should Read
The stories of the US short-story writer O. Henry, real name William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), are characterized by their irony and by their surprise endings, which became something of a signature of a good O. Henry short story. However, another word that is often used to describe O. Henry’s short stories is ‘sentimental’, and it is for this reason, perhaps, that he is no longer appreciated as he perhaps should be, despite the wit of O. Henry’s narrative style and the cleverness of his twist endings.
Below, we select and introduce five of O. Henry’s very best short stories. Many of them are only five pages long in the average paperback reprint of his stories (we recommend in particular 100 Selected Stories (Wordsworth Classics), which is excellent value for money), so can be ready in no more than ten minutes. What are you waiting for?
Most (though not all) of these stories are included in the anthology mentioned above. O. Henry was a prolific writer so even those 100 collected in that fat volume aren’t his full, collected works...
1. The Gift of the Magi’.
This is surely O. Henry’s best-known story of all. Published in 1906, it’s about a husband and wife, Jim and Della, buying Christmas presents for each other, without much money to spend on them. The two of them have a special possession they prize above all others: Jim has a gold watch that’s been MAGI handed down through the generations, and Della has her long, thick hair.
How will Della be able to raise the money to buy Jim a gold chain for his watch? We won’t say any more...
2. ‘Mammon and the Archer’.
This story is also from 1906. A retired soap manufacturer named Anthony Rockwall worships ‘Mammon’, i.e., money above everything else. The ‘Archer’ of the story’s title is Cupid, the god of love.
Rockwall tells his son Richard that money can buy him anything in life, but Richard points out that the girl he loves is leaving in a few days' time and he hasn’t managed to win her hand. He takes a ring with him, which his mother left to him in her will, with the intention of asking his sweetheart to marry him but he drops the ring and... well, we won’t say more, but let’s just say that once again, O. Henry’s gif for twist endings turns things around...
The story is a curious counterpoint to ‘The Gift of the Magi’, in which a married couple uses their last few dollars to buy each other a Christmas present. Here, there is a suggestion that money can buy you time, after all.
3. ‘The Duplicity of Hargraves’.
First published in 1902, this story is about the elderly Major Pendleton Talbot and his spinster daughter Lydia. After the pair move to Washington D. C. from the American South, they meet Henry Hopkins Hargraves, a vaudeville actor.
However, the impecunious Major and his daughter are shocked, when they go to see a show, to find Hargraves impersonating the Major in front of the audience. Then a man claiming to be one of the Major’s former slaves from the antebellum era turns up and offers to help the pair out of hardship...
As ever, we won’t spoil the ending. But let's just say the word ‘duplicity’ in this story’s title itself has a double meaning.
4. ‘The Sleuths’.
This 1911 story is a more light-hearted tale from O. Henry, and a pastiche of the popular Sherlock Holmes stories.
A man searching for his missing sister in New York realizes the official police detective can’t help him. Only one man can: the famous private consulting detective Shamrock Jolnes. As the narrator informs us: ‘The famous sleuth’s thin, intellectual face, piercing eyes, and rate per word are too well known to need description.’ Sound familiar?
5. ‘After Twenty Years’.
This 1906 story is a tale of a reunion. Two men who grew up together in New York City agree to meet up, twenty years later, in the restaurant where they last bid each other farewell two decades ago in order to seek their fortunes. However, one of the men, Bob, has become a hardened criminal and the other man, Jimmy, has become — well, let’s not give too much away, other than to say the reunion does not exactly go according to plan.
1. Which of the following serves as a counterpart of the story in The Gift of the Magi?| A．The Duplicity of Hargraves. | B．The Sleuths. |
| C．Mammon and the Archer. | D．After Twenty years. |
| A．The Duplicity of Hargraves. | B．The Gift of the Magi. |
| C．Mammon and the Archer. | D．The Sleuths. |
| A．In a list of reference book for high school. |
| B．At an online book fair. |
| C．In a lecture by a professor from Literature Department. |
| D．On a mobile shopping app. |
【推荐2】Four newest novels
If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal
What Animal Intelligence Reveals about Human Stupidity
by Justin Gregg. Little, Brown, 2022 ($29)
The book is a snappy read but lingers: it left me wondering why we don’t respect signals of intelligence from other species-and more deeply consider how our own intelligence works against us. -Darcy B. Kelley
Meet Us by the Roaring Sea
A Novel by Akil Kumarasamy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2022 ($27)
Set in a future of eye scans, carbon credits and advanced Al. Akil Kumarasamy’s new novel nonetheless feels surprisingly like home-even as it tests the boundaries of self and story.
Doctors and Distillers
The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails
by Camper English. Penguin Books, 2022($18, paperbound)
Your favorite cocktail may very well have its roots in medicine of generations past. With immense wit and charm, author Camper English traces millennia to explore how civilizations used the fermented and distilled beverages to do everything from hydrating the workforce to fending off the Black Death.
The Milky Way
An Autobiography of Our Galaxy by Moiya McTier
Grand Central Publishing, 2022 (26)
Moiya McTier assumes the role of cosmic interpreter to let our galaxy tell her own story. As a character the Milky Way is a cross between a Greek goddess and GLaDOS. the artificially super intelligent computer system from the Portal video-game series.
1. Which book talks about the theme of intelligence of species?| A．Doctors and Distillers | B．The Milky Way |
| C．If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal | D．Meet Us by the Roaring Sea |
| A．They are all hard-covers. |
| B．They come out in the same year. |
| C．They share the same topic. |
| D．They are published by the same publishing. |
| A．$44 | B．$54 | C．$56 | D．$53 |
【推荐3】Graham Moore is the best-selling author of The Sherlockian and the screenwriter of The Imitation Game. His new book The Last Days of Night is out now. He is talking about some of his favorite books.
Murder in Three Acts
BY AGATHA CHRISTIE
My mother is a crime fiction（侦探小说）lover and，when I was having trouble learning to read, we’d sit in my bed at home in Chicago and take it in turns to read a paragraph. It was the first book I read cover-to-cover and I later became a writer because of that experience. Not only did it give me a love of crime fiction but, more importantly, it taught me that reading can be a shared experience.
Cryptonomicon
BY NEAL STEPHENSON
This book showed me that historical fiction need not be dry, but can be lively and enjoyable. Stephenson asks readers to take science seriously, but writes the story in a funny way. I’d long known of Alan Turing, but Stephenson’s technique (手法）of describing him was surprising; I saw how a writer can bring a real person to life for modern readers.
A Visit from the Goon Squad
BY JENNIFER EGAN
Egan uses a technique that I drew on when writing The Imitation Game. She tells stories from different voices and times, and uses many styles that say to readers, “I’ve done a lot of work, but now you have to join in and work it out for yourselves.”
With my latest book, my greatest hope is that readers will want to get other people discussing the book. I’ve just started the conversation.
1. What influenced Moore to be a writer?| A．Reading crime fiction in secret. | B．Having trouble learning to read. |
| C．Reading a book with his mother. | D．Writing stories at a young age. |
| A．Boring. | B．Serious. |
| C．Imaginative. | D．Humeorous. |
| A．Write her some letters. | B．Think for themselves. |
| C．Tell their own stories. | D．Ask her some questions. |
