For his entire life, Sergio Peralta from the US dreamed about playing catch. When he was born, his right hand didn’t fully develop, with only tiny fingers at the end of his arm. So he learned to write, eat and carry books with only one hand. Over the years, the 15-year-old lost hope that anything would change.

Peralta said on his first day of high school he honestly felt like hiding his hand in his sleeve, so nobody would ever find out. But his classmates, to his surprise, supported him in a way he never expected. The school’s engineering teacher, Jeff Wilkins, came and told him that his fellow students might be able to help.

“They ended up offering, ‘We could build your prosthetic (假体的) hand,’ and I never expected it,” he told CBS News. “Like, never in a million years.” Three students used their access to online models of prostheses and a 3D printer to make a plan. After four weeks, their project came to fruition. They used polylactic acid (聚乳酸), a common material in 3D printing that’s also used to make electronic devices, as the hand’s main fabric. They applied another plastic material commonly found in phone shells to make the fingers spread and squeeze objects. And they added a fishing line, so Peralta could fix the hand to his forearm. 

Bob Cotter, the principal of Hendersonville High School, told the BBC that his students are encouraged to turn concepts “into reality”, adding that Peralta’s new prosthesis is “a proof to the students who care about each other”.

Peralta-who grew up learning to do everything with his left hand-was even able to catch a baseball with the prosthetic hand created by his classmates. “When I caught it for the first time, everyone started freaking out.” Peralta said with a smile. “It was the first time I caught a ball with my right hand in my IS years.”

Middle school. For teens and their parents. the two words can arouse anxiety, fear and even horror. Kids are, all of a sudden, really growing up. Their bodies are changing: they’re dropping some of their childhood interests and trying on new ones. Friendships form and are torn apart. Academic expectations grow bigger. 

But some books-like the novel Curlfriends: New in Town, written and drawn by Sharee Miller-remind us of the many possibilities and excitements that present themselves within those challenging years. 

The book follows 12-year-old Charlie Harper, beginning her first day of middle school. This is no small change, and in order ta cope. Charlie promises to “completely reinvent” herself. She is tired of letting other people label her and is ready to take control of her own story. What follows is a series of meetings, first with Nola. She introduces Charlie to her lunchtime crew. The girls come together around shared particulars of their lives-homework. girlhood and fashion -even if their differences in tastes and personalities create cracks of uncertainty from time to time.

Curlfriends is a delightful book packed with sunny illustrations. It also cuts into the heart of the challenging tensions that are part of this intermediate stage of life. Young teens want to be known and seen by others, but they are also coming to terms with who they are. It can be tricky, for example, to distinguish between the passions and pastimes that your parents picked for you and those you actively care to pursue. It can be difficult to figure out what you like and what you are like.

Curlfriends is also a book about finding one’s passions, responsibilities and independence despite changing situations. It is as much about expressions of self-respect as it is about showing care for others. The one constant in Charlie’s life is her love of drawing. and it’s through art that she figures out how to mark her place in middle school. It’s not all under her control, but, as with good art, sometimes mistakes along the way end up making for the most amazing details.