Wonder

I saw Wonder by R.J. Palacio on the New York Times Best Sellers list of children's books and thought it looked intriguing.  It's about fifth grader August Pullman who enters public school for the first year.  He's been home schooled for years because he was born with a severe facial deformity--which has resulted in lots of medical problems as well as lots of unwanted negative attention.  This book follows August and others in his life as he goes through fifth grade.

This was a really, really, really good book.  I didn't want to put it down and was just rooting for August (and many of the other characters) throughout the book.  The first part of the book follows August, and just about the time that the book started to get a little too depressing, it switched to the point of view of a different character (his sister).  Her account overlapped the end of his story and then moved forward in time, and then the book continued to switch to new point of views that overlapped slightly and also introduced the next part of the story.  It was just wonderfully written and completely inspiring.  I was reminded of the importance of being kind--and not just kind, but kinder than necessary.  Laughter, near-tears, and a new perspective--what a fabulous story and wonderful book!  I would definitely want my kids to read this book because I think it teaches us all about how to treat those who are different.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)

Theodore Boone: The Accused

This is the newest book in John Grisham's Theodore Boone series.  This book again follows Theo, an 8th grader whose lawyer parents have passed onto him a love of court and law.  In this book, Theo gets accused of stealing from a computer store after some missing items are found in his locker.  Theo and his parents know he is being framed, but they don't know why, and Theo is the police's number one suspect.  Theo works with his friends and uncle Ike to try to come up with what is going on.

I enjoyed reading this book.  I enjoy the premise of these books, and the book kept me guessing with how it would end.  I did feel like the book sometimes is wordier than necessary, and there wasn't a lot of action for an entire book.  It was a fun read.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)