【推荐3】Next to the benefits of playing and swimming all day long, reading is probably the most important thing kids can do in summer. Here are some great summer reading programs for kids.

Sync: Free Summer Audiobook Program for Teens.

Sync has a summer reading program just for teens that will give them two free audiobooks each week this summer. Perfect for both on-the-go and on the couch reading. Each week they offer a current young adult book as well as a classic title that teens will be able to download for free through the SORA/OverDrive app.

Scholastic Read-a-Palooza

Scholastic has a summer reading challenge in which kids go online to record the minutes they've read during the summer. This year, kids can make new friends, earn virtual rewards, help unlock donations for kids with limited or no access to books. All you need to do is sign up and keep a “reading streak” in Scholastic Home Base over the summer.

Half Price Books

The Half Price Books hosts gift card giveaways on social media for kids who read for at least 300 minutes during the months of June and July. The program website also features printable coloring sheets, online story times and mystery book recommendations for ages ranging from preschool to teens.

Reading Is Fundamental

Reading Is Fundamental is the nation's largest children's literacy non-profit. It lists a collection of free ebooks and interactive materials on literacy. Reading Is Fundamental has tools for every level to raise reading to new heights this summer and beyond.

【推荐1】Visit America’s National Parks for Free on These Six Days in 2024

It’s time to plan a visit to your dream national park destination. For a few days each year, every national park in America is free to visit — including hundreds of national monuments, seashores, historic sites and more.

Less than a quarter of them have entry fees, but those that do charge up to $20 per person or up to $35 per vehicle. Revenue (收入) from these fees stays in the National Park Service to cover visitor services, including improving accessibility, restoring wildlife habitat and more.

“National parks are places that awaken senses, inspire curiosity, encourage reflection, and promote joy,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in a statement. “The entrance fee-free days expand opportunities for people to visit their national parks and experience the beauty and history of our country.”

There’s a new addition to the entrance fee-free days in 2024: Juneteenth, which became recognized as a national holiday on June 17, 2021.

National park free entry days for 2024:

●Jan. 15 — Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

●April 20 — First day of National Park Week

●June 19 — Juneteenth

●Aug. 4 — Great American Outdoors Day

●Sept. 28 — National Public Lands Day

●Nov. 11 — Veterans Day

Fees for certain activities like camping and fishing will still be in place. Additionally, parks operated in partnership with outside parties may charge other types of fees. For instance, Waco Mammoth charges an access fee for its dig shelter. That park is run by the Park Service, together with the City of Waco, Texas, and Baylor University. Visitors can find site-specific details on park websites.

My name is Ann. I am 13 and worried about my weight.I want to be a model,but I store lots of fat in my face,legs and stomach. I look at myself in the mirror,and then go into my room and Cry. I'm scared to talk about it. My parents' comforting words just don't ring true to me. My friends are shocked when they find out how much I weigh. I don't know what to do. I've diagnosed(诊断)myself with BDD(body dysmorphic disorder 躯体变形障碍症),too.

Yours，

Ann

I am worried about your problem.So much worry at 13. That was me, too, hating my body. So I understand a little of how you feel. I was 21 when I got help and I wish I’d got earlier. I wish someone had told me that as you enter the teenage years,your body changes and so does your brain, and that the things troubling you now just won't be problems as you get older.

The way you feel about yourself appears to be about your physical appearance,but it's this self-hatred(自我憎恨) that needs to be worked out. Then you will see your confidence grow.

Since you're in your teenage years,you are very probably not "done growing”,so you needn't diet at this age. Eat healthily and exercise within reason. Being thin or pretty doesn't make you feel better inside.Besides,remember that proper diagnosis of BDD can only come from an expert. Don’t worry about that.

Hope I've helped.

Yours，

Lisa

【推荐3】Fantasy is one of the most well-known—and well-loved—book genres. We rounded up dozens of book recommendations for incredible fantasy series with the hope that magic will find its way into your heart and onto your bookshelves.

Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin

What you’re in for: Character-driven fantasy

The series starter tells the story of Sparrowhawk, a young and confident boy who grows into the great wizard (术士) Ged. But between the first and last pages of this coming-of-age story, there are adventures with a dragon and that whole business of releasing a shadow creature into the world.

Shades of Magic by V. E. Schwab

What you’re in for: Parallel worlds and dynamic characters

Kell has been raised alongside the royal family of Red London, and he serves as an ambassador. He possesses the magical ability to travel through parallel Londons, which he uses to his benefit as a smuggler (走私者). In magicless Grey London, he collides with thief Delilah Bard, whose request for help in saving all the world kicks off an adventure full of richly crafted characters and fascinating settings.

Discworld by Terry Pratchett

What you’ re in for: Lots of laughs and a vast imagination

Dive into The Color of Magic to meet Rincewind, a wizard. He lives within the Discworld. And yet here is Twoflower, Discworld’s first visitor, who’s determined to see everything and who has arrived with his own multi-legged luggage. A lot of fantasy series books are as imaginative as Pratchett’s, but few are as genuinely funny as his.