【推荐1】Mouth open in wonder and horror, Laurent Pelletier stares at the bush cricket that has landed in front of him on the picnic table. “Can we eat it?” he asks his mum. “Can I take it as a travel companion?”

In early 2022, Laurent’s parents decided to quit their jobs. They took their four children, Mia, Léo, Colin, and Laurent, travelled over 52, 000 miles and visited 13 countries. Over the months, the world constantly unveiled (显露) itself. The kids played pat-a-cake with uniformed schoolchildren in Botswana, and while in Tanzania they tried African traditional dances with locals and stayed on a banana farm. In Thailand, they touched an elephant, calling out in surprise at how rough it felt. Rarely did they talk about why they were abroad in the first place, with one exception. While travelling along a dusty Mongolian highway last summer, Laurent, who had seemed unaware of what was to come, asked, “What does it mean to be blind? How will I cross the street? Will I be able to drive a car?”

“It’s like when you have your eyes closed,” his mother said. “It won’t happen overnight, but slowly, over years. ”Being blind, she continued, didn’t mean the end of the world. Rather, the world would be different. Nothing would prevent them from doing most things, including skiing, swimming or even becoming scientists who worked on cures for their disease. Laurent nodded, then went back to making up his own games to pass the time.

The four kids will become blind, likely in adulthood. They have a disease called retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a group of related eye disorders that cause progressive eyesight loss. By far, it has no effective treatment, and it will gradually take away their eyesight. However, their parents still want their kids to lead full lives, whether they’re blind or not. The trip has reinforced (增强) what they believe all these years-the kids will find their way.

Each day, their parents watch the kids change, physically and emotionally. Laurent grows taller and needs more independence. Both Léo and Colin become more confident and outgoing, unafraid to engage with strangers. “Today, my eyesight is good and I’m going to make the most of it, ”says Mia. “Tomorrow, we will rise to the challenge. ”

【推荐2】These 4 novels will get your summer off to a terrific start

This Time Tomorrow

by Emma Straub

Straub’s new novel is a time-travel fantasy filled with her signature awareness of the infinite ways we humans make life harder for ourselves. The heroine here is a single woman named Alice who works at her old high school. Her father, a bestselling novelist who raised Alice on his own, is dying in a New York hospital. On the night of Alice’s 40th birthday, Alice returns from a drunken party and stumbles into the gift of time travel, which allows her to explore the big question, “What if”?

Search

by Michelle Huneven

Huneven’s comic novel is a delicious must-read for anyone who’s ever served on a committee. The narrator, Dana Potowski, is a food writer living in California who’s roped into joining the search committee for the new minister of the church. Huneven dramatizes how one strong personality—in this case a young woman swollen with insolence—can control a committee.

One-Shot Harry

by Gary Phillips

Group decisions are not something Harry Ingram worries about. He’s the star of this new hard-boiled mystery by veteran crime writer Gary Phillips. One-Shot Harry is set in L.A. in 1963, as racial tensions are worsening in advance of Martin Luther King’s upcoming Freedom Rally at Wrigley Field. Harry, a Black free news photographer who roams all over L.A. with his Speed Graphic camera, is the best of all possible guides to this moment. His job gives him entrée into neighborhoods and events that might otherwise be off-limits to him because of his race.

Knock Off the Hat

by Richard Stevenson

Richard Lipez, who wrote under the penname Richard Stevenson, was a groundbreaking author of gay detective novels featuring private eye Donald Strachey. Knock Off The Hat may be the best novel Dick ever wrote. Its main character, Clifford Waterman, is a former police detective dishonorably discharged from the Army during World War II for an “indecent act.”

【推荐3】Anthony Doerr’s new bestseller, All the Light We Cannot See, holds special appeal for me. That’s how I would describe it. From the poetic language, to the realization of what the tile actually means: that underneath the surface of history, there is light that has not been seen, and stories that have gone untold.

I’m going to be honest-love for this book didn’t hit me straight away. In fact, my first attempt to read it last month ended with me putting it aside and going to find something easier, lighter and less descriptive to read. But this book is built on beautiful imagery. Both in the literal sense-the physical world of 1940s Paris and Germany, and the metaphorical (隐喻性的)sense-scientific and philosophical references to light, to seeing and not seeing, and the differences between the two. It’s a beautiful work of genius, but it does get a little complicated at times.

However, when we get into the meat of this World War II novel, it’s also an upsetting story of a childhood torn apart by war. It’s about Parisian Marie Laure who has been blind since she was six, and a German orphan called Werner who finds himself at the center of the Hitler Youth. Both of their stories are told with sensitivity and sympathy, each one forced down a path by their personal circumstances and by that destructive monster-war.

I think this is the kind of book you will never appreciate if you stop too soon-I learned that lesson. From the first to last page, there is a theme of invisible lines running parallel (平行的)to one another and sometimes, just sometimes, crossing in the strangest way. These two lives we are introduced to seem to be worlds apart, and yet they come together and influence one another. It was this, more than the predictably awful tale of war, that made me feel quite emotional.

【推荐1】In 1972, Barbara Rieco penned a heartfelt children’s book that held her dream within its pages. Despite her best efforts, the manuscript (手稿) faced repeated rejection from publishers, leading her to eventually set aside her dream of becoming a published author.

Little did she know that, decades later, her grandson would turn the dream into reality. Chad Cooper, a production professional, decided to give his grandmother the ultimate Christmas gift — the publication of her treasured book. Visiting her in Baltimore for the holidays, he secretly took her original manuscript, along with the drawings for the book she had obtained from an artist years ago, and transformed them into a beautifully printed book.

On Christmas morning, as Barbara unwrapped the carefully crafted gift, she was overcome with emotion as she realized what the surprise was. The moment, captured and posted online by Chad, quickly resonated (产生共鸣) with viewers, and the video became a hit.

“This is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me in my entire life,” Barbara said in the video, who also gave her grandson a big hug, with tears.

Chad’s thoughtful gesture didn’t just end with the surprise; he also included a link to the book on Amazon, making it available to the public. The response was nothing short of magic — within days, Barbara’s once-forgotten book skyrocketed to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list, earning the coveted spot as a best seller.

Chad filmed the reaction to that news and shared more updates. Barbara said she had been reading every single comment online and wanted to respond to them all but there were thousands of them.

“I’ve bought Barbara Rieco’s book even though I’m 21 and don’t even have kids. I’ve read it and I really like it,” said one viewer.

“My children enjoy reading the book and they recommend me to read it as well,” another viewer commented.

Barbara Rieco’s book, now accepted by a new generation of readers, continues to spread joy and inspiration.

【推荐2】Late one night in July 2020 in Reykjavik, Haraldur(Halli) Thorleifsson was wandering around the city’s main shopping street with his wife and two kids. During their walk, his three-year-old son was thirsty and wanted a drink from the corner store. But Thorleifsson soon discovered he couldn't help with the simple request: A 20-centimetre step blocked his access to the store.

The barrier was all too familiar. Born with muscular dystrophy, which causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle, Thorleifsson, now 46, has been using a wheelchair since he was 25. As he waited outside, he recalled, “I thought about how strange it is that we separate families in this way. I thought about all the times I wasn’t able to join my friends at restaurants, pubs and stores that are inaccessible.”

Living all over the world as a creative director and digital designer in cities such as San Francisco and Tokyo, Thorleifsson had witnessed first-hand how different cities consider and plan for accessibility, from ramps(斜坡) and sidewalks to public transportation.

Having recently sold his digital creative agency, Ueno, to Twitter, Thorleifsson now had the financial means to make a difference in his hometown. He decided to start with a project to make Iceland wheelchair accessible, one ramp at a time.

Ramp Up Reykjavik was launched as a non-profit in 2021 with a goal to build 100 ramps, mostly in the city’s down-town, within a year. Unlike portable and temporary solutions in other cities, these ramps are permanent structures that match the aesthetic of the buildings, making them appear as if they’ve always been there. It’s a design detail that helps provide a sense of inclusivity.

With the help of government funding and other sponsors, the Ramp Up team finished ahead of schedule and has broadened its scope to all of Iceland, with the goal of building1, 500 ramps countrywide by 2026.

【推荐3】Charlie is a factory worker in this hectic age - a minor cog in the grinding wheels of industry. His job -mechanically tightening bolts on a moving belt. The monotony of the work drives him berserk. Taken to hospital he soon recovers and is discharged, cautioned to avoid excitement.

Charlie unconsciously thwarts an attempted jailbreak. As a reward he is given a cell with all the comforts of home. But just as he is ready to settle down to a life of ease and contentment in jail, he is pardoned. He then gets a job in a shipyard, but is fired for doing the wrong things at the wrong times. He resolves to return to the comfort and security of jail.

He meets the girl - a gamine of the waterfront. She and her orphaned sisters are about to be taken into custody by the juvenile welfare officers, but she escapes. When she is about to be arrested for stealing food, Charlie attempts to take the blame, without success. He wanders into a cafeteria, orders everything in sight, then informs the manager that he has no money to pay.

On the way to jail he meets the girl again. Together they escape and from then on they are inseparable companions.

Charlie gets a job as night watchman in a department store. His first night on duty is hectic. Burglars invade the store, and Charlie is involved once again with the police, and once more shunted to jail.

Released, he meets the girl who has found herself a job as a cabaret dancer. She gets Charlie a job in the same restaurant as a singing waiter. He proves a huge success. Happiness seems close now, but the juvenile welfare officers have finally tracked the girl down.

They attempt to take her into custody, but Charlie foils them and escapes with the girl. Together they trudge down the lonely road, ready to face whatever the future may bring.