Read it Wednesday!

"I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse."

How can that not pull you in and not let you go? How can it not break your heart into a million pieces? 

Would it make a difference if I told you that this book, which starts out with such a sad statement, is filled with beauty and hope and love that's for real? 

It's Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. 

I read this early last fall, and loved it so much I ordered 5 hard bound copies for my classroom. I was so going to read it with a small group. But I loved it so much I couldn't bear not sharing it with my whole class! So I skipped the small group and decided to do it as a read aloud. But...I couldn't let go of thinking about the small group and ended up not reading it at all!! What a goof. My copies are sitting next to my desk all ready for this September (even though everything else is in piles around the floor). I am promising myself, and you, that I'll read it this year. 

Wonder is about a boy named August Pullman. He's different. Really, really, beautifully heart-breakingly different. But inside he is so the same as every other fifth grader I know. Except maybe a little kinder. When he decides to finally go to school the complex life of feelings of everyone around him is revealed. 

What I like most about this book is that it's like someone finally mentioned the elephant in the room. I looked in the mirror as I read about how cruel the world is with "not-looking" for the sake of being polite. I learned quite a bit about looking, not-looking, ignoring and staring from Auggie. 

Check it out.

While you're at it, please add your own Read it Wednesday link!! I can't wait to read what you are reading this summer!

Next week: The Missing!!

Read It Wednesday!

I love juvie fiction. Everything from Junie B. to Edward and Bella. The problems are so real (ok, maybe not Edward and Bella), without getting all tangled up in grown-up perspectives and scruples. I always think that the problems in juvie books are really what all our problems are about, once you strip away all the crap.

One of my favorite books I read this year was Hatchet by Gary Paulson. I know, I know. I must be like a decade behind, right? Both of my daughters read it long before I did.( I always thought it was about historical fiction....and I really try to avoid that like the plague. I had enough in my own intermediate years. No offense to any historical fiction lovers out there.)

Hatchet is a survival story. If I had known that, I would have read it ages ago. If there is one thing I'm irresistibly drawn to, it's a survival story. I'm not alone; why do you think "Survivor" is going on it's, like, 80th season? And Zombies? Yep, it's that survival stuff again.

Hatchet is the story of Brian, a 13 year old who is traveling in a single engine plane on his way to visit his father in Canada.When the pilot has a heart attack, Brian crash lands the plane in a very remote area, far off the plane's original route. When he regains consciousness, Brian realizes he doesn't have much in the way of survival equipment, except for a small hatchet his mother gave him as a going away gift.

There are several other books that follow Hatchet, including Brian's Winter, Brian's Hunt, Brian's Return, and The River. Each one is as good as the  last. This is a great series that I have found many of my reluctant readers drawn into.

What is one of your favorite juvie fiction books? Link up and talk about it! I need more books to add to my "Must Read" list!

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