奥巴马总统之妹写书介绍母亲

"I recognize, for instance, that in making sure that we came along to villages and to her work, that our mother was trying to get us to see that these village people were just as important and powerful and loving and had just as much to teach as upper class, well-educated people."

Although her goal was to introduce her mother to her daughter, Soetoro-Ng says "Ladder to the Moon" has something to say to other young readers, and older ones as well.

尽管玛雅写书的目的是把自己的母亲介绍给女儿。但是，她表示，《通向月亮的梯子》一书也向其他年轻读者和老年人传达了信息。

"Slow down and think about the lessons of the elders. I think it’s true we look forward to enormous amounts of information, but I think we would be better off if we thought about the kinds of wisdom and thoughtfulness that we need in order to handle the amount of information ahead."

玛雅说：“让我们慢下来思考一下老年人的经验。不错，我们都希望得到大量的信息，但是，假如我们能够思考我们需要有什么样的智慧来处理这些信息，我们的情况就会更好。”

Although Suhaila never knew her grandmother, Obama and Soetoro-Ng knew theirs. Their mother's mother had an enormous influence on them.

"Our grandmother was a formidable woman, very practical and very strong, very smart. She was for me a balancing, steadying force. She took care of us. Both my brother and I lived with her for a time and she allowed us to be brave because we knew that she would always take care of us, that there would be a safety net beneath us. And that was an important feeling to have. It was a great gift."

Other messages present in "Ladder to the Moon" are that all people are intertwined and that service is important. Soetoro-Ng says children need to know they are strong enough to take responsibility for themselves and others.

《通向月亮的梯子》传递的信息还有，所有人都互相交错在一起，要有奉献精神。玛雅说，孩子们需要知道，他们足以强壮，可以为自己和他人承担责任。

"We need to teach our children empathy and care and love and communication and social responsibility in preparation for adulthood. We can’t afford to live in isolation and we need to teach our kids that the things that they do not only matter to others far away, but impact others who live far away and there are ripples of effect. So that means we need to be responsible and thoughtful about our actions, about our relationship to the environment, about the way that we communicate and we ought to do so kindly."　

她说：“我们需要教导孩子们具有同情心，知道去关爱别人，懂得与人沟通并承担社会责任，以便为他们进入成年作好准备。我们经不起离群索居，我们要教导孩子们，他们做的事不仅关系到，而且影响到在遥远地方生活人们，会产生涟漪效应。这意味着，我们需要承担责任，要对我们的行动、与环境的关系以及我们交往的方式三思而行，而且采取友善的态度。我们需要提醒他们，他们很坚强，可以做很多事给世界带来积极的影响。”

Soetoro-Ng hopes "Ladder to the Moon" triggers conversations between parents and children about the values and tools the young generation needs to have a positive impact on the world.

玛雅说，年轻一代如果要对世界产生积极的影响，就需要具有相应的价值观和工具。她希望《通向月亮的梯子》一书能够开启父母和孩子之间在这方面的对话。