Wonder by RJ Palacio

Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive. He goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunts and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.

This is one of our Read Box books (the most popular in school) and is paired up again Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper for our March Madness competition. As I first started reading it, I was constantly comparing it to Out of My Mind and thinking it was nearly as good. BUT, as soon as it started switching into different characters' points of view, I got really sucked in and by the end of the book, I was bawling like a little girl at the beauty of the life that Auggie is living. This book will make you grateful for all you have and want to be nicer to others.