WONDER by R.J. Palacio *****

So, the school year has been underway for a few weeks, and we've been BUSY. We put Mrs. Trigg on the roof (You guys won!), had a back-to-school picnic, and even had a bird show for kids who read enough pages this summer. We keep busy around Sunset Valley Elementary, don't we? *grin*

I have an AMAZING book review tonight. It's a book that Ms. Johnson showed me at the beginning of the year, and I took it home on the weekend it rained on Friday and Saturday. I had it read within 24 hours, which is saying A LOT because I keep busy on the weekends.

The book is WONDER by R.J. Palacio. In this book, the main character is born with a face that is different from everyone else. The kid's name is August, and they call him Auggie. It's his story of life with a face that's a little different from everyone else's.

In fact, he starts school for the first time in middle school and it makes for a REALLY good story. It really touched my heart on so many levels! I laughed, cried, cheered, and was changed by this little character. I'm different because of this little guy in this book. That's when a book is REALLY good. *grin*

We talk at school about making connections with what we're reading. I wanted to share a connection I had with the book. See, Auggie is picked on by other kids because of the way he looks. I won't go into details, because I don't want to ruin the book for you, but people picked on him because he looked different. It wasn't his fault, that was just the way he was born. That's what happened to me too. When I was a kid, people picked on me because I walked different than they did. I made a connection with that character because of the way people judged him because of something that wasn't his fault. It made me cry and smile all at the same time. *grin*

I want to end this post by saying I'm proud of the students at SVE because I don't hear kids pick on other kids who are different than they are. Instead, I see kids accept other kids in the most kind ways around our school. WAY TO GO, SVE! You're an amazing group of young people!

So, check out WONDER by R.J. Palacio!!! It will make you *grin* ear-to-ear!

*grin*
LIFE.
IS.
GREAT...WITH A GREAT BOOK IN YOUR HANDS!!!