by R.J. Palacio

August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside.

But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

This technically should be lumped in with my YA reviews, which I do in a multiple books in one post format. However, this book, which I think is considered middle grade, should be read by everyone! Auggie is a gem, perhaps one of the best young characters you will ever encounter. He will make you laugh, he'll make you cry, and he'll make you marvel at his ability to handle the cruelness of people in this world. The other characters are also very well fleshed out, including Auggie's sister, the boy who befriends him, and the school bully (I have the version of the book with the Julian chapter at the end, not all books have this). Since it's a middle grade book, it is a fast read, and the vocabulary is geared for that level, but trust me, you won't mind because you will be so engaged in the story. I really hope there will be a sequel to this, I want to grow old with Auggie!

The synopsis says it best, this is a book you will remember long after the final page. Go out and read it.