【推荐1】Sometimes people come into your life and you know at once that they are sure to be there. They serve you on purpose, teach you a lesson or help you find out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be: your classmates, neighbors, teachers, long-lost friends or even a real stranger. But you know that every moment they influence your life in some serious ways.

Sometimes things happen to you. They may seem terrible, painful and unfair at first. But later you get to know that without overcoming those difficulties, you would have never got to know your further ability and strength. Everything happens for a reason and nothing happens by chance or with good or bad luck.

The people you meet influence your life, and the success and failure you experience create who you are. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant but the most important ones.

Enjoy every day even every moment, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people you have never talked to before, and really listen to them. You should set your sights high, hold your head up, and believe you are a great one.

You can make anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it.

【推荐3】Many of you have watched a Superman cartoon or movie. But did you know he first appeared in comics（连环漫画）? Do you want to learn more about popular comic books around the world? Take a look!

Do you find reading boring? Have a read of some comic books. You will learn to love their colorful pictures and simple language.

Comic books usually tell stories through cartoons. The US and Japan have some great comic books. But they are not the same.

Their names are different. People say “comic books” in the US but “manga” in Japan.

American comics are often about superheroes—characters like Superman and Spider Man. So action is a major part of American comics. But Japanese manga like to tell stories of ordinary people. Luffy in One Piece（《海贼王》）is such an example.

American comics make people excited with super powers, while Japanese manga comfort（安慰）people with moving stories. Natsume’s Book of Friends is about a teenage boy. He can see spirits（精灵）. He is confused （困惑的）at first but later he makes friends with spirits.

If you are not interested in these two kinds, why not try some from China? Xia Da, 32, is a great comic book artist from China. Some of her comics are about school life. Others show the beauty of Chinese culture.

【推荐1】Feeling left out?

A reader wrote in to say that she was feeling lonely at break because her best friend wasn’t around. Here’s our advice to her and to all kids who feel lonely sometimes.

It’s hard when a best friend isn’t around—maybe because she moved to a different school or a different class. You may feel lonely at break or lunchtime. You want to have new friends, but how do you make them? Maybe it seems like everybody else already has their friends. But remember, there’s always room for more friends.

Start by looking around your classroom—think about which kids you’d like to play with at break. Look for chances to say hi to them, smile, and be friendly. Offer to share something or express your appreciation (欣赏) to them. Invite someone to play with you or say “Do you want to sit here?” in the lunchroom. When you’re at break, walk over to kids you want to play with, act friendly, and say “Hi, can I play, too?” or just join in.

If you have trouble doing this or if you’re feeling shy, ask your teacher to help you make new friends. Teachers are usually pretty good at matching up friends. The best way to make friends is to be a friend. Be kind, be friendly, share, say nice things, offer to help and pretty soon, you’ll have one, or two, or even more new friends.

You might still miss that special best friend. But when you see each other, you can share something you didn’t have before she left. You can also introduce her to your new friends!

【推荐2】When Tom brought his lunch to her table, Lynn knew something was up. “Your friends are over there.” She said, nodding towards the other side of the cafeteria（餐厅）.

“I’d rather sit here today.” Tom replied. He took a bite of his pizza and looked around the cafeteria. Lynn stared straight and stayed silent.

“So, what’s new?” Tom asked. Lynn picked at her food, pretending that she hadn’t heard him. “Look, Lynn. I’m sorry.” Tom said, “I was just kidding about your shoes.”

“I can’t believe you said that in front of everyone.” Lynn said. Anger rose inside her. but she kept control of herself. “My mom bought me those shoes because she thought I liked them. Now everyone’s going to call me ‘sparkle toes’（闪亮鞋子）forever.” She pushed her feet under her backpack, which she had placed on the floor. She tried her best to hide the silver shoes with glittery（闪光的）laces（鞋带）.

“I thought we were friends.” she said, looking down.

“We are friends,” Tom said. “I was just trying to be funny. How can I make it up to you?”

Finally, Lynn realized that Tom meant what he said. She had an idea. She began taking off her shoes. “Give me your laces. You wear mine for the rest of the day” she said.

Then, she glanced at the second piece of pizza on Tom’s plate, “And give me your other slice of pizza. Then we will be even.”

Tom nodded and smiled. “That seems fair,” he said, pushing his plate to Lynn with one hand and reaching down to untie his laces with the other.