2 . Brian is a very silly, funny student. What he loves most is to make people laugh. All his friends love his jokes, and even the teachers think he is very funny. Brian knows that comedy is what he likes best.

When he hears about the school’s talent show, he decides to sign up so that he can share his comedy from the stage. He has never done real stand-up comedy before, and he is very excited. But when some of the students find out he will participate, they laugh at him. Brian thinks it does not feel very good when someone laughs at you in a mean way!

Brian cannot understand why they are being so unkind to him. For a moment, he thinks about telling the talent show organizers he will not participate. But then he remembers how much his friends and teachers like his jokes. He does not know why these other students are being so negative, but he decides to go ahead and prepare his comedy routine for the talent show.

Brian decides to do a great job at the talent show to prove to the mean students that they are wrong. Everyone loves his routine, and he wins first prize! Even so, the same students tell Brian he is dumb and that he will never be a successful comedian. Brian just shakes his head and wonders what their problem is. He does not understand, but he realizes that it has nothing to do with him. He happily continues to work towards his goal.

As the years go on, Brian meets more people like that. Luckily, they are the minority, and as he works hard to become a comedian, most of the people he meets encourage him and help him to become even funnier. He gets more and more opportunities to perform, and he is even invited to appear on television and act in movies.

5 . In the depths of space orbits is an intergalactic space station. Living here are some of the smartest scientists and their families. After traveling billions of miles, two scientists, Clyde and Klara Klosno, and their kids Kelvin and Bula, are the newest members of the space station. This is a story told in the new book, ScrFi Junior High, written by Scott Seegert and illustrated by John Martin.

Seegert, a former engineer, was inspired to give writing a try at age 45 after reading a book written by a famous writer. After working on that book for three years, Seegert's hard work paid off when it was published in 2007. After that success, he decided to focus on writing books for kids.

Martin always loved to write and draw. As a kid, he spent evenings and weekends watching cartoons and drawing superheroes, Martin says he was “avoiding homework”, without realizing that he was really working towards his future career. Martin went on to study art at a college and became a successful illustrator.

Seegert and Martin grew up during the same time and had similar interests. As kids, both read comic books, watched superhero shows and enjoyed alien movies.

Their first cooperative work was the book Vordak the Incomprehensible. The two went on to write more books together and have received many awards for their work. For Sci-Fi Junior High, they started with a very general idea, and then focused on the characters to tell the story.

Seegert and Martin work really well together. They even work in the same art studio in Farmington, Michigan. They work in separate rooms but have an in-between door so they can consult each other in person. “Many times nowadays, you might see an author and . illustrator working together, but they have never even met,” Seegert said. “We work diffeently from most children's book authors and illustrators.”

6 . Dad loved basketball and hoped that one day I would play the game. He taught me a lot, and I was pretty good until the accident. We were on the highway. Our little car spun off the road. Then everything was suddenly dark. The next thing I remembered was being told I wasn’t going to be walking again.

Mom and I learned to live with it Dad took it hard “Sometimes I think he blames himself,” Mom said.

One day Mr. Evans, an elder in our neighborhood, asked me if I wanted to join a wheelchair basketball team he was starting. When I told Mom, she was all for it, but Dad just looked at me and mumbled (嘟哝) something. I didn’t know what to make of Dad’s reaction, but I knew I wanted to play.

I began my first practice on a Friday afternoon. What surprised me most was that I found Dad sitting in the stands and watching us go through our drills. We finished our regular practice, and Mr. Evans motioned for my father to come down to the court.

“Jim, I happen to know that you played pro ball,” Mr. Evans said. “I think you can show the kids some fundamentals.” Dad agreed he would like to give it a try.

We practiced the whole summer. Dad came every day. “I thought you were terrible at first,” he said one afternoon. “But I think you can play with Madison (a very good teen wheelchair basketball team) now.”

Dad only comes to practice once in a while now, but he comes to the games when they’re on the weekend. I didn’t want to push him though I liked him coming to practice, but I know he believes I can do well without him now.

7 . When one door closes to Li, another one opens. Born with severe hearing loss, Li has found her way to communicate with the world—through painting. Moreover, painting led Li to meet her husband Hu at the Changsha Vocational and Technical School. Losing his hearing due to medication when he was 1 year old, Hu is also an art-lover.

Before learning to paint in primary school, Li always felt lonely in a silent world. She knew she was different from her peers because she could not hear. But a painting class opened for her a door to creativity and away of expression.

Graduating from college in 2005, Li got a job as a typist at a public institute in Zhuzhou, Hunan. It was a decent job in the eyes of her father, but Li was not happy because she could not communicate with other colleagues and the lonely feeling from childhood came back.

In 2016, Li quit the job and joined her husband’s company, which specializes in 3D wall and ground paintings, to be a wall painter. All the five painters there are hearing-impaired. “I know how difficult it is for hearing impaired people to find a job. So I want to help those who are passionate about painting to pursue their dreams,” said Hu, adding that the company is more like a family.

As all the people are hearing-impaired, communication with clients is the most common challenge that the team faces. Li said, “We communicate through typed words, which is slow and has caused us to lose some clients.” Apart from that, Li is confident about the team’s painting and design skills.

Li hopes that their stories can inspire more people facing similar battles. The painter said, “Life can be challenging to the hearing loss community who are somehow excluded (排除) from conversations, but we are not alone, and we can find our way of expressing ourselves.”

9 . An 87-year-old great grandfather in Japan has earned his degree in economics(经济学) in a university. For this achievement, Yoshimichi Harada may be the country’s oldest college student. Although he doesn’t expect to get full-time employment, Mr. Harada intends to learn more.

In Harada’s time, children were expected to start working after completing just five years of primary education. Of his 53 classmates, only ten percent who came from wealthy families went on to attend high school. Harada, like the majority of his classmates, joined the army. Upon returning home, he had to work to support his family for half a century even until his children were already senior citizens. He retired(退休) at the age of 76. The Japanese great grandpa said even when he began working in the building trades, he was always reading textbooks, writing reports and memorizing important knowledge.

One day, he just told his children and grandchildren that he had to cut off their financial support to spend for his own education. Surprisingly, his family welcomed Harada’s decision and gave him new clothes, shoes and bags for use during his schooling. While in the university, this senior student shared notes with his classmates before exams and even joined friends for drinks at bars after school.

In fact, many senior citizens in Japan would like to continue their education. It's sad, however, that many of them find it hard to spare the money they earned because of their responsibility to their children and families. A government survey shows that more than 20% of the Japanese are now over 65 years old and continue to support their families. Harada, however, thinks that they should also make use of their earnings and take new directions in their life similar to what he did. He not only earned his college degree but was able to get modern education and technology in school that most old people haven’t known.

10 . Being cut from a school team can be a difficult experience for a kid. But when 13-year-old Emmie Tallent who has Down syndrome (唐氏综合征) didn’t make her school’s cheer squad (啦啦队), she responded in the most impressive way — she cheered anyway. Emmie Tallent, agirl with firm determination, took to the sidelines while her school’s cheer squad performed. She matched the entire routine, moving for moving, in a black dress and tie-dyed shoes.

Her sister, Sydnee, recorded this moment on video, and it’s now capturing hearts worldwide. The video, with over 3 million views and 87,000 likes, shows Emmie facing the official squad and performing the routine alongside them. Her performance is nothing short of inspiring. “Girl didn’t make the cheer team, but she didn’t care,” Sydnee wrote, admiring Emmie’s confidence.

“Emmie may not be on the cheer team this time, but I’m sure her talent and spirit will shine through somewhere in the future,” Sydnee said with a smile. “Right now, she’s satisfied and happy doing what she loves. Thank you all for supporting her. I want to show the world Emmie’s joy from pursuing what she likes and the beauty of diversity.”

The team did not have a lot of spots and even neurotypical (神经正常的) girls who were much better than Emmie didn’t make it to join it. Emmie’s school was giving Emmie help and kept encouraging her, but there are hard decisions that have to be made sometimes. Though Emmie didn’t make the squad, she wasn’t feeling upset at home, and continued to follow cheer squad’s routines and moves to please herself and spread joy to others, even if from the sidelines.

In the face of rejection, this tough 13-year-old chose to dance rather than sit by and let it define her, inspiring us all to embrace our uniqueness and find joy in every moment.