I came to work in New York about three years ago. Not long after I came to the city I learnt a good lesson.

I'm good at making friends. Soon after I came to New York, I made some very good friends. Loving parties, I often invited my colleagues and friends over. We often had fun together till late night. But people in the building disliked it. I was considered as a black sheep in the building.

One night, when I was throwing a big party for some Chinese students in New York, a neighbor could no longer stand the noise and he called the police. The police came, and many of my neighbors came, too. It was an unhappy night.

However, some days later, I found something very unbelievable. My neighbor Sam threw a big birthday party in his apartment. They sang and danced till midnight. But nobody went to ask them to stop the party. Feeling confused (疑惑的), I went to Sam the next morning and asked him why he could throw a party for his friends while I couldn't. He didn't say anything. Instead, he took me to a notice board in the hall of the building. It said, “My dear neighbors, Sam living on the sixth floor will throw a party tonight. About twenty people will come. We’ll sing and dance. The party will be over around midnight. We may make some noise tonight. Please accept my apology.”

He apologized even before the party began. People felt respected in this way. And that was why nobody bothered them that night.

Cynthia Kadohata wrote Kira-Kira and never thought it would be so popular among students. It is a book about a young Japanese-American girl, Katie Takeshima, and the difficulties that her family have to face when they are forced to move to Georgia. This book tells the story of one family’s journey to a new place, their experience of racism, and the ability of people to move forward through hard time.

In the book, Kate and Lynn Takeshima are sisters. The story begins in Lowa, where their parents’ small family-owned store runs out of business. Soon after, the Takeshimas begin to face financial difficulties and they have to go in search of a new living. The family moves to Georgia where they work at a hatchery（孵化厂）with their uncle. On the way to their new home in Georgia they experience racism. They have difficulty in “fitting in” when a hotel manager tells them to go to “the back” where the “Indians” have to stay.

Life gets even harder for the Takeshimas when they begin to work at the hatchery. Katie’s parents are over-worked there. They have to stay in a cramped apartment with little space. And as if that isn’t enough, Katie has too much schoolwork to do. During Katie’s struggle, Lynn becomes sick and Katie feels unsafe, because she has always looked up to Lynn. There are hard times that Katie and her family have to experience. This story is a beautiful-example of resilience (适应力) and friendship. It also opens the reader’s eyes to some of the struggles that Asian Americans are facing.

I shall never forget the day when the earthquake took place. The time was about 5 o'clock in the afternoon and I was driving along the road to take my daughter from school. Our plan was to go swimming together. I had finished my work at 4 o'clock and then gone to the Post Office. Then I'd stopped off at a shop in order to get some fresh fruit. We like to have some fruit to eat after our swim.

I was driving along a high road on my way to my daughter’s school. Over my road was another road which was built like a bridge for cars coming to the other way. I was hungry so I put the bag of apples in the seat beside me and started to eat one.

Suddenly I saw the cars in front of me start to move from side to side. Then my car started to shake! I didn't know what was happening. Perhaps something had gone wrong with my car. I drove a little more slowly and then I stopped the car and at the same moment the road fell onto the cars in front of me.

I found myself in the dark. I couldn’t move. The bottom parts of both of my legs and my feet were hurting badly and I couldn’t move them. All around me was quiet. But above me I could hear shouts and a lot of noise. Then I memorized (记起) what had happened. I had been in an earthquake.

For about two hours nobody came. Luckily I could reach the bag of apples, so at least I had plenty to eat. Then I heard people climbing towards me. A team of people had come to see if anyone was under the broken road. I called out. “I’m here！” I heard a shout. Soon a stranger climbed to the side of the road near my car. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“Not too bad,” I said, “but my feet and leg feel as if they’re broken.” “We’ll have you out of there just as soon as we can.” They didn't get me out until the next morning. I had been in my car for fourteen hours.