As usual, Betty was sitting alone during break. As she sat, she heard a quiet "meow" nearby and found a little cat with a band showing the name "Lucky".

    She picked up the cat and went to ask her teacher if she could help the cat find his home as a class project.

    "Are you willing to organize this project?" Mrs. Smith asked. She had tried for months to get Betty to speak up in class, but Betty had stayed quiet. Maybe this was her chance to shine!

    Betty thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, we need to put up signs around the neighborhood and call the local newspaper." Tony also suggested that they call the Animals' Home. Soon students were busy drawing posters. Two students were making phone calls. Mrs. Smith was surprised to find Betty was so confident and really showed an ability to lead.

    Betty, however, was not thinking about being a leader or being shy. Her mind was on finding this lost cat's home.

    The two students making phone calls came back and announced, "The Animals' Home said that a family reported a lost cat named Lucky! They said they'd call the family to come and get him!" The class cheered. Ten minutes later, a woman showed up and said with joy, "Thank you for returning Lucky! He was very 'lucky' to have been found by such a caring group of students!"

    The class celebrated their success. Mrs. Smith celebrated, too. Betty sat comfortably with her classmates for the first time, laughing and joking. Mrs. Smith believed it was indeed lucky that Betty had found the cat—lucky for both of them!

American children like to celebrate their birthdays. They usually celebrate them with a party. They ask their friends to their parties. They don't have parties on the right dates(准确的日期)of their birthdays if they come on a school day. They may hold(举办) them at the weekend. 

Today many children like two kinds of parties in America. One is at home. Parents decorate the house with balloons(气球)and coloured paper. They make a special birthday dinner. The children play games. The other is away from home. Some are at a special restaurant. The children eat pizza and ice cream. The waiters also sing and say happy birthday to the children. Some are at a park, or at a cinema, or in some other places. 

There is a cake with candles(蜡烛) at every birthday party. When the candles are lighted(点燃), everyone sings the special birthday song Happy Birthday. 

Many people don't have birthday parties when they are not young. They say they would like to forget how old they are. But they do like to keep the happy birthday parties of their childhood in mind(记忆). 

August, a 10-year-old boy, lives with his parents and sister in New York. August is a common boy in many ways. He likes riding a bike and playing video games. But he was born with facial deformities (畸形) and so his face looks very different from others.

August's first year at school was difficult. Most people were afraid of him and stayed away from him. But he never gave up on himself and never lost hope.

Later, a girl named Summer reached out to him and wanted to be his friend. That was the first time he felt kindness from friends.

Then a surprising thing at a school camp changed everything. People found how brave he was and how hard it was for him to get along with others, and they began to understand him.

This is the story in Wonder. The book was written by R. J. Palacio. Kindness is its main theme (主题). From the book,I learn a lot: A small, simple act of kindness can make a big difference and we all are able to practise kindness.