【推荐1】After watching the 2002 Winter Olympic Games on TV at 3 years old, Little Nathan Chen became interested in winter sports. Nathan wanted to play ice hockey (冰上曲棍球)，but his mom advised him to try figure skating(花样滑冰)first which she said was safer. After practicing a few times, Nathan fell in love with it.

Today, Nathan is influenced by all the athletes he meets. From the difficulties the athletes have faced and how they dealt with them, Nathan learns to work on dealing with his own difficulties as well. He describes all the athletes he trains with as role models for himself.

Nathan won gold at the 2017 ISU Grand Prix Final and 2017 Four Continents Championships, and silver at the 2016 ISU Grand Prix Final. Nathan has also broken a record, becoming the youngest man to win a medal at the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

However, this journey has not come without hard times. Nathan suffered a bad injury during the 2016 season and it took him quite a long time to be able to compete again. At the beginning of the 2018 Olympics, Nathan was expected to win gold but got 5th place in the end. Nathan later described the race as “just me being on the ice and enjoying myself”, free from all the pressures. What matters the most isn’t the results, but the great memories you get from the experience and the joy of being able to do something you love.

This fall, Nathan will be attending Yale University and work on managing his time as a student and athlete. Aside from figure skating, Nathan would like to learn how to box. Besides, he plans to learn biology and later become a doctor.

【推荐2】Most 5-year-olds are just learning to read and write but one little girl from the UK has actually written a book that was published in January, 2022.

Bella-Jay Dark from Weymouth is the world’s youngest female to be published and was awarded the title by Guinness World Records. Her book, The Lost Cat tells the story of Snowy, a cat who got lost after going outside alone at night. Bella hopes the book will teach children not to go outside at night alone.

While many adult writers find inspiration for their books from life experiences, Bella’s creative vision actually came from one of her drawings. “It started off as a picture. My dad also agreed I could make a book and a story coming from the picture,” Bella told Guinness World Records.

Bella’s deciding to write a book wasn’t astounding to her mom, Chelsie Syme, who said that her daughter had been writing short stories since age three. Bella spent around five days writing the story and did all of the illustrations(插图) except for one picture that her older sister Lacie May drew.

Syme hadn’t expected the book turned out as well as it did. “I thought it would just be some scribble(涂鸦),” she said. “I didn’t think it was going to go this far. I am so proud and want to see her get the acknowledgement she deserves.”

To earn the Guinness World Records’ title of The World’s Youngest Published Author, Female, the book has to be published by a commercial publishing house and have at least 1,000 copies printed and sold. Bella’s book met the criteria (标准).

Besides being an accomplished author, Bella is just a regular kid who enjoys reading swimming and playing on her tablet. In her free time, she is currently working on a sequel(续集) to Snowy’s story.

【推荐2】I remember that it was a fall morning when the orchestra (管弦乐队) teachers came into Miss Newell’s third-grade classroom. “You have hands for the viola (中提琴),” Miss Ciano told me. I was excited because my hands were finally good for something. I told my parents I wanted to play, and naturally, they agreed.

Since I first touched the viola, I haven’t been able to put it down. Ignoring the difficulty, I am pulled closer to it each day.

Classical music is truly my best friend. It is the trusted friend of every man, woman and child. Various feelings are expressed in classical music. I discovered that when I was eleven and played a cello concerto (大提琴协奏曲) of Bach in a competition, the first movement was joyful, but the second movement was mysterious and full of pain. From the piece, I learned that music expresses not only feelings, but also sudden mood changes. By listening to classical music, I know that someone else shares these feelings. Since I am lucky enough to be able to play classical music, I am comforted by it when I am upset. It gives me a way to escape from my problems for a short period. Classical music can express my joy, sadness and anger.

Now look back at that fall day in the third grade and think how gullible I was for believing that anyone, even music teachers, could tell whether hands were perfect for a certain instrument I’m certain they told me I had “viola hands” not because they were fortune-tellers (算命师), but because there was a lack of violists in our district. Classical music is one of the best things that ever happened to mankind. If you get introduced to it in the right way, it will become your friend for life.

【推荐3】When I was 12 years old, I already knew that my teen years were going to be the worst years of my life. I was a total outsider, bullied (欺凌) at school. I felt completely alone in my small town. But by starting to do volunteer work when I was 14, I turned my problem into helping others. The opportunity to practice kindness made me feel like my life had a greater purpose. The more positive energy I shared, the more kindness and appreciation I received. I realized that my purpose in life would be to reach out to people, specifically teenagers, and help them feel less alone.

Books were my true friends back then. I was so thankful that the authors wrote those books. The kindness they offered me with their books saved my life. One of my biggest dreams was to become an author so I could write books that would help other teenagers the way those books helped me.

After surviving terrible experiences at school and at home, I made a choice to take the optimistic and positive road in the next steps of my journey. My dream career, which I thought was only possible for the authors I loved, is what I am doing now. I have been a full-time author of teen novels since 2007 and am grateful for this amazing opportunity to reach out to readers every single day.

Kindness saved me when I needed help the most. Even small acts of kindness can change someone’s life. You never know what someone else is going through. But by practicing daily kindness, you become an architect of positive change.