August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?
A few weeks ago, I picked up this book after hearing amazing reactions from a friend that was reading it. Since my oldest will be going into 5th grade next school year, I thought it would be a good thing for him to read. Him. What I didn't expect was for it to have such an emotional impact on me, but really - it was one of those books that I've had to let marinate in my head so I could come up with the right way to talk about it.
Simply put, this is another book that I want to hand out to people and make them stop everything they're doing and read it RIGHT NOW. I've emailed friends with children the same age, and teachers and perhaps even a headmaster about it. I even made my husband read it, and listening to him talk with our son about the messages and the parts they liked and the characters that they liked and disliked...it was beautiful.
The story is told using various POVs -- Auggie's and a few other characters that play important roles in his life, both before and during his 5th grade year. To me, that is what makes this story so compelling and relatable. We get to experience the highs and lows of Auggie's story from the inside and the outside. I found myself nodding and relating way more than I thought possible, and we're not even going to discuss how many years it has been since I was in 5th grade.
If I haven't convinced you to read it, maybe my son's proclamation will:
"Mom - that was the best ending of a book that I have ever read. I feel so happy that I can't stop smiling."
I mean, how can you not want to read a book that elicits that kind of response from a 10 year old boy who love his video games and tormenting his sister and has very much 10 year old boy potty humor.
“I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives.”
I do too, Auggie. I do too.
*as always, click on the book cover for more information.
Just checked and this is not in "the stash"
ReplyDeleteWant to read it and get Wills to read it too.