WONDER by R.J. Palacio

A.R. Book Level: 4.8
A.R. Points: 11.0
Pages: 315

Wow. I rarely see a kids’ book that so truly and accurately shows what it’s like to be a kid: how important it is to feel like you “fit,” how hard it is to do the right thing if it’s also the unpopular thing, how tough it is to be at an age when you want to be cool but still have to cry sometimes.  In this story, August (Auggie) Pullman is a fifth-grader born with a horribly deformed face who has never attended school because of his dozens of surgeries and other medical issues.  When he enters middle school in fifth grade (weird, huh?), he meets and interacts with so many people: some who are kind, some who are unkind, and many who are somewhere in between.  The story is told in turns by Auggie, his sister, and several of their friends.  It’s so interesting to see so many different perspectives on the same awkward social situations. A MUST-READ, especially for readers who loved Cynthia Lord’s Rules.