Wonder by R.J. Palacio… A Review

   "The only reason I'm not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way."

                                                                                                                            Auggie Pullman

Fifth grade is hard. Bullying, growing pains, cooties, homeroom, recess. Today I'm your friend, tomorrow could be different, who do you sit with in lunchroom? But fifth grade can also be wonderful. Friendships, secrets, electricity from potatoes.

Auggie Pullman was different, but only because he looked different. His face was horribly deformed (he suffers from craniofacial abnormality), but he was a normal kid otherwise, with feelings and insecurities and a sense of the world around him. The book, Wonder by R.J. Palacio is about Auggie and the year he went into fifth grade. That year was the first year he ever attended public school because his life up until then was filled with surgeries and sickness. It was time for him to face the realities of fifth grade… and dealing with kids who don't know him or have never seen a kid like him before.

This book was wonderful. But why? That's hard to put into words, but I'll try… Wonder is about the inherent good in all of us. That we're human with flaws and we make mistakes, but we can learn from our mistakes and become better people.

The story centers around Auggie, but then there are parts told from the perspective of other characters in the story… from Auggie's older sister, Via, who loves her little brother dearly, but is also suffering with the pangs of growing up herself,  Auggie's best friend, Summer, his friend, Jack, Auggie's sister's friend, Miranda, who grew up with Auggie and is just like a sister to him, and finally Justin, Via's new boyfriend. We find out what they're thinking and how they try to deal with all the pressure's of adolescence while sharing some part of Auggie's life. It is so interesting to read the other kid's perspectives! The writing is great! These kids are real! They're problems are normal, and how they deal with them is inspiring.

The eBook I downloaded had the incredible "bonus" chapter of Julian's perspective. Who is Julian?! Well Julian is the bully. You'll really dislike him… until you read his take on the whole thing, and then by the end of his story (and it is a wonderful story! With a wonderful subplot involving WWII, the Nazi's and saving a little Jewish girl)… ok, I'm not giving away any more! Read this book! It's YA, (Young Adult) but we can all be inspired to "choose kind". (You'll understand when you READ the book!)

Banned Books Week... Highlighting Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and Teen suicide

Sometimes a book is banned because the subject matter is uncomfortable. Such is the case in Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher...

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Thirteen Reasons Why is about teen suicide. It's about bullying. It's about how words and actions can hurt. First published in 2007, Thirteen Reasons Why still made the top ten banned list in 2012. Why? Because it contained drugs/alcohol/smoking, it was sexually explicit, there was a suicide, and it was deemed unsuited for age group. I have never read the book, but from researching banned books for this week, I  read a blurb on cnn.com from Jay Asher about censorship that just resonated with me and made me wish that people who try and ban books like this, would understand why it's important to have them available. Here's the blurb:

Having spoken to thousands of teens since my book came out, I even more firmly believe that books dealing with these issues need to be written as emotionally honest as possible. Not only is it appropriate, it's responsible. If people are dealing with it, we need to talk about it. Otherwise, we contribute to the main reason people don't reach out for help

The responses I read on the Thirteen Reasons Why Website, were amazing. Some were reviews from people who were dealing with depression, some who had attempted suicide and even a response from someone who realized they wanted to go into a field that helped teenagers like the protagonist in the story. In any case, if this book helps one person, it is a worthwhile endeavor. I just put this on my reading list.

The False Friend by Myla Goldberg... A Review

Two eleven-year-0ld girls... go into the woods... Only one comes out

The False Friend by Myla Goldberg isn't so much a story as to what happened to eleven-year-old Djuna Pearson when she never came back from that fateful day when she and 4 other eleven-year-old girls walked the twisted dangerous road to the woods, as it is a journey of self discovery as Celia Durst retraces those steps 20 years later after a flashback sends her running back to her hometown to find the truth. The truth about what happened to Djuna, but also the truth about Celia & Djuna two best friends who were cruel & bullies and what long term consequences their cruelty had on themselves and the other girls in their clique...

From the Book Jacket...

Celia and Djuna were the ringleaders of a highly competitive quintet of girls, caught in an escalating cycle of test, reward and punishment that peaked the afternoon they all walked home along a forbidden woodland road. Celia blocked out what happened, but everyone else in Jensenville assumed that Djuna was abducted that day, though neither Djuna nor her abductor was ever found.

Twenty years later, Celia and her boyfriend Huck are professionally successful, but their relationship has fallen into a stasis that Celia feels helpless to change. When Celia’s memory of that terrible afternoon suddenly returns, she is forced to confront the part she played in her best friend’s disappearance, and returns to Jensenville to confess.

In a hometown defined by what it was and can no longer be, Celia discovers that her unconscious avoidance of what really happened so long ago has had lasting repercussions. Her aging parents—their love handicapped by a lifetime of reserve—insist that she is innocent. Celia’s childhood friends not only don’t believe her, but insist that she should be apologizing for a completely different offense. Huck wants to be supportive, but can neither ignore all that contradicts Celia’s version of the past, nor the damage it has inflicted on their shared life. Celia’s search for the truth has startling and powerful consequences, resulting in a story that persists in the mind long after the last page has been turned.

Deeply resonant and emotionally charged, The False Friend explores the complexities of moral judgment, the fallibility of memory, and the adults that children become—leading us to question the truths that we accept or reject, and the lies to which we ultimately succumb.

The False Friend opens with Celia walking to work, and something she sees jars a long forgotten memory. It's 21 years before, and she's just meeting Djuna in fifth grade. Djuna will become the friend that will replace all others. But her other friends, Josie, Leanne and Becky will make up part of the circle that surrounds her. As she remembers Djuna, loving & hating her, she remembers a lie. A lie that may have had dire consequences for Djuna in the woods that day... Little girls are passionate, especially when it comes to friendships. They can be cruel, love, hate, and can be your BFF at a moments notice. Myla Goldberg captures those feeling perfectly in The False Friend. That is what really makes you turn the pages of The False Friend- Celia's introspective look at her childhood relationships. The dynamics of these 5 girls is so interesting. And the intensity of the friendship between Celia and Djuna reverberates off the page. As Celia tracks down those 3 childhood friends from twenty years ago, not only is she surprised at what she learns, but you will be too. I really enjoyed The False Friend. Myla Goldberg's writing was compelling and slowly drew me in. The relationships she portrayed, from the friendships between the girls to the relationships between the parents and the girls was so authentic. And I think that all these parts of the story, all these relationships, added the richness to the story that kept me reading well into the night... My only complaint with The False Friend is the very ending- it fell a little flat at the very last page, but all in all a very good read, realistic portrayal of bullying, and an interesting reflection on what we perceive of ourselves growing up.

* I want to thank Liz of Doubleday for sending me a copy to review!