Wonder by R.J. Palacio

So I'm finally writing a review about this book...I know, I know. I'm at least two years behind everyone else, but it bears repeating. This kid is a wonder after all.

Auggie was born with mandibulofacial dysostosis...and a bunch of other very unfortunate genetic mutations which result in some serious facial abnormalities. As he puts it, "Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse," (Palacio pg. 3). He's endured countless surgeries to overcome the very real possibility of never living to see tomorrow, and now, at 10 years old he's finally going to go to a real school.

Let's be clear, he doesn't want to go. Well, mostly. He knows the kids are going to stare and make fun of him. They won't be able to see past his face and treat him like the really cool, funny, mostly normal kid who rides his bike, eats ice cream, loves his dog, and plays XBox.

His sister Via has lived in the shadow of Auggie and been his biggest protector her whole life, but this year she's starting high school. She's ashamed to admit that it's a relief to be somewhere she isn't known as "the freak's sister." She's cast in the school play, and she hasn't told her family about it...what kind of a sister is she...what kind of a person does that make her?

Jack hasn't told August this, but the principal asked him to hang out with Auggie and help him out. I mean, that's how it started out, but he really likes Auggie now. He would pretty much consider him his best friend. He just feels pressured by everyone else. They ask him why he would be friends with a freak. And that horrible game everyone is playing, The Plague...he doesn't know what comes over him that day.

All of these reactions and emotions all over a sweet 10-year old boy with a birth defect. Can this boy really enact some change in this school? Or will he decide it's all too much, and retreat from the bullying and whispers. This is a story of bravery in the face of cowardice, and it will break your heart before it puts it back together again.

"'It was bad how we did that,' she said. 'Just getting up like that, like we'd just seen the devil. I was scared for what Jamie was going to say, you know? I didn't want him to say anything that would hurt that little boy's feelings. But it was very bad, us leaving like that. The momma knew what was going on.'
'But we didn't mean it,' I answered.
'Jack, sometimes you don't have to mean to hurt someone to hurt someone. You understand?'" (Palacio pg. 137, 2012).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts by R.J. Palacio
Firegirl by Tony Abbott
Twerp by Mark Goldblatt

Palacio, R. J. (2012). Wonder. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani and Iacopo Bruno (School for Good and Evil, Book 1)

Sophie knows that this is the year. The School Master will come and take her away to her destiny. She will become the princess she was always meant to be. Of course, her best friend Agatha will be taken too, and she will become a witch. The two of them will enter the School for Good and Evil together, and live forever in a fairy tale. It's a dream come true! Anything is better than living her days out in this miserable town. Anything is better than being ordinary...

When the School Master comes, however, he makes a huge mistake. He puts Agatha in Good (Evers), and Sophie in Evil (Nevers)! This has to be a joke, right? Both girls are miserable, and no one will let them near the School Master's tower. Agatha wants nothing more than to go home, but Sophie wants her storybook ending. Sophie keeps accidentally winning challenges causing the Nevers to start to think maybe she's not as bad as they thought. Agatha, on the other hand, is in danger of failing if she loses any more challenges!

The school itself is full of mysterious history. The other students all come from storybook families. They call Agatha and Sophie "Readers," and mock their lack of knowledge. Each story is written by the Storian, a magic pen. Each student will be assigned a role in a larger tale when they graduate: hero, princess, villain, witch, henchman, or mogrif. A mogrif could be anything from a cat to a tree to a gargoyle...and neither want to end up as a piece of scenery.

How are they ever going to survive such a strange place! When Sophie sees Tedros, she knows she has found her prince. This is the answer to her Happily Ever After... but how will she ever convince him her Never status is undeserved? And how will she tell Agatha that she wants to stay?

"'You belong here with us,' Hester said, as she, Anadil, and Dot crowded around Agatha, whose head swung nervously between this villainous threesome. Did they really want to be her friend? Was Sophie right? Could being a villain make her...happy?
   Agatha's stomach churned. She didn't want to be Evil! Not when Sophie was Good! They had to get out of this place before it tore them apart!
   'I'm not leaving you!' she cried to Sophie, breaking away.
   'No one's asking you to leave me, Agatha,' Sophie said tightly. 'We're just asking you to leave your clothes,'" (Chainani, 2014).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
The School for Good and Evil #2: A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani
Storybound by Marissa Burt
Doll Bones by Holly Black

Chainani, Soman, & Bruno, Iacopo. (2013). The School for Good and Evil. New York, NY : Harper.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Laurel started writing to Kurt Cobain, Janice Joplin, Judy Garland, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse as a way to be closer to her sister. It started as an English assignment: write to a famous dead person. They all died too young, and that's what happened to her sister. Everyone wants to know what happened that night on the bridge, but she can't tell them. She hardly knows herself. What would she say anyway...that she couldn't save her own sister?

High school is a wasteland without May. Everything is dimmer, lackluster, washed out. Laurel is lucky enough to find a few friends that help her get through the days. She knows that she has to maintain a certain semblance of normalcy or her dad and her aunt will flip. Her mom has taken off for an undisclosed amount of time to "find herself" - whatever that means. Doesn't she know that Laurel needs her?

So she talks to dead people, and they help her deal with the fact that her world is upside down. Going to a new school was supposed to help. She wouldn't be the girl who's sister died. She even manages to attract the attention of a boy. He knows who she is, or at least he knows who her sister is...was...

Sky is her lifeline, and it seems like he could be the one to pull her out of the tailspin she's in, but is that really fair? Can she put that on him, and does she want to? He keeps asking what's wrong just like everyone else, and she can't tell him. At some point, it's too much for him. Just like her friends: Natalie and Hannah. Natalie only has eyes for Hannah, but Hannah can't seem to handle their relationship in public. She flaunts her string of boyfriends in front of Natalie to a point where is seems they can't go on.

Can Laurel find a way to let go of the past before it destroys all of her relationships? Can she find a way to forgive her sister and move forward?

*Library Link*

"When we were walking to the parking lot, Natalie said to Hannah, 'I made the tulip that way, I made it a painting, because now you'll always have it. It can't wilt or die.' Natalie had taken what's ephemeral and turned it into something that Hannah can keep. Hannah looked at Natalie like she was trying to make herself understand what it means to have someone love you like that.
  At least that's what I imagined, because I know that it can be hard to believe that someone loves you if you are afraid of being yourself, or if you are not exactly sure who you are. It can be hard to believe that someone won't leave," (Dellaira pg. 145, 2014).

If you liked this, check out:
Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Dellaira, Ava. (2014). Love Letters to the Dead: A novel. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux. 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (Mara Dyer Trilogy, Book 1)

Mara wakes up in a hospital bed, and the first thing she can really focus on is the yellow roses. No matter what is going on, at least the roses mean her best friend Rachel must be here. Even that is empty, though, they are from Rachel's parents and Rachel is gone...forever. She can't remember what happened or why they were even visiting the asylum that night, but everyone is looking to her for answers.

Instead of answers, all she has is nightmares and hallucinations. PTSD the doctors say, and they want to commit her. She convinces her mother that a move will be enough; moving away from the ghosts of her friends and all the questions she can't answer.

Florida is almost like another punishment. Private school is another circle of hell, and the first thing she does is have an episode and pass out in class. She manages to invoke the ire of one of the most popular girls in school. Luckily, she also manages to make a friend. Jaime shows her the ropes a little, and tries to warn her off the hot British guy, Noah, who keeps teasing her. He couldn't really be flirting...

Besides, she has enough to deal with: she's seeing AND hearing dead people. No matter what happens to you, she knows that is crazy. Even weirder things happen around her: an abusive dog owner drops dead the exact way she pictures it in her mind. And that Noah guy won't leave her alone. She finally agrees to go out with him...and he kind of wins her over. The weird stuff doesn't stop though, and soon it seems like it may be bigger than she ever imagined.

"Things were changing. Sweat pebbled my skin, even though I knew it wasn't possible. It wasn't possible. I was in class at nine this morning, when that bastard died. He had to have died earlier. The coroner, or whoever he was, was wrong. Even he'd said he was just guessing.
  That was it. I imagined my conversation with him. I'd thought he snuck up on me too quietly, but he didn't sneak up on me at all. He was already dead. The whole thing was just another hallucination - par for the course, really, considering my PTSD.
  But still. Today felt...different. Confirmation that I was now crazier than I'd known it was possible for me to be. My mother worked with only the mildly disturbed. I was full on delusional. Abnormal. Psychotic," (Hodkin pg. 103, 2011).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (Mara Dyer Trilogy, Book 2)
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me, Book 1)
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone, Book 1)

Hodkin, Mara. (2011). The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. New York: Simon & Schuster BFYR.

The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer

They have to take a stand. This co-opting of their school by the reality show "For Art's Sake" has gotten way out of hand. At least, that's what Luke thinks. He's kind of the leader of their motley foursome. He always has been, almost since forever. So even though Ethan's desperate crush of 100 years Maura Heldsman is a contestant on the show, he gets behind Luke's cause.

What you have to know first is that Selwyn is an arts academy. It isn't your run-of-the-mill public high school. Every morning they each spend an hour and a half practicing whatever discipline they want to perfect. Jackson is a nerdy cyber super genius, Elizabeth is an art goddess in day glow, Ethan is a less than stellar artist and an okay musician, and Luke is a wordsmith (and of course, their mascot, Baconnaise the gerbil). Maura is a dancer, Miki Frigging Reagler is a drama kid, and so on. That's the best part of Selwyn: the diversity and the art.

When the vice principal and the plastic blonde co-host, Trisha, came swooping in with the reality TV show, at first it seemed like it could be a decent idea: good press for the school, a scholarship for the winner, and fame never hurts either! The longer the season goes on, however, the more obvious it seems that everything is scripted and edited using "frankenbiting" tactics (selective splicing of footage to create a desired storyline that may not fit with reality).

They learn about the Cantos in BradLee's English class, how Ezra Pound used it as a way to fight back against tyranny and speak out against oppression, and to challenge the established language. BradLee gets what they are fighting against. It's this that inspires Luke to create the Contracantos. What is the Contracantos? A subversive newsletter aimed at the money making machine of For Art's Sake and all those involved, calling for a return to the true purpose of the school: creating art. How is that going to go over with Vice Principal (Serpent Vice) Coluber, Trisha, and their cronies?

"Selwyn? Sell-outs! That's who we are.
We're orbiting an ersatz star.
We used to spend our time creating
But now we walk the halls awaiting
The latest, greatest Nielsen rating.
-THE CONTRACANTOS," (Hattemer pg. 76, 2014).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:

The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

Hattemer, Kate. (2014). The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.

Emerald Green by Kersten Gier (Ruby Red, Book 3)

*SPOILER ALERT: This is the third book in a series! STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FIRST TWO! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!*

Gwen is sick of all this time travel nonsense. She just wants to be heartbroken like any other teenage girl and mope around all the time. How could she have been so stupid. Of course Gideon was under St. Germain's thumb, of course he was using her...I mean, the guy can read minds, right? There's no way someone that good looking would fall for someone like her. She just wants to curl up and die, preferably under her bed, with ice cream delivery service. Is that too much to ask?

Unfortunately, being a time traveler makes that impossible. Not only does she have to keep going to school, but she is forced to spend time with Gideon alone! The only thing that makes it bearable is being able to go back and see her grandfather. He is the only one she can really trust. The two of them begin to suspect that St. Germain may have a bigger scheme at hand.

The breakthrough in their plot against St. Germain comes with the discovery of the second chronometer, allowing Gwen to time travel outside of the Order's strict watch. Can they discover St. Germain's plot? Can she work with Gideon after he stomped on her heart? Will her grandfather come through for them before it's too late?

The final twist may prove too much for Gwen, and it may be at the expense of her life.

A fitting end to this enjoyable time traveling trilogy (see what I did there?), Gier manages to balance the romance with adventure rather well. Even I could stomach it! You won't want to miss this thrilling conclusion.

“You mean he's not afraid of me because I'm a woman? He ought to see Tomb Raider sometime. For all he knows, I could have a nuclear bomb under my dress and a hand grenade in each cup of my bra. I call it antifeminist!” (Gier, 2013).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Starbound, Book 1)
The Archived by Victoria Schwab (The Archived, Book 1)
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles, Book 1)

Gier, Kerstin, & Bell, A. (2013). Emerald Green. New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2013.

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Austin is just a typical Iowa boy. He has a banging hot girlfriend, and a pretty cool best friend, who is also gay. So, okay that isn't so typical Iowa. And he also has some kind of ambiguous feelings about Austin, but that's normal for a teenage boy, right? Being confused about your sexuality is just part of growing up... totally typical. In their typical Iowa town, there is also a factory (now defunct) famous for its typical toothbrushes. Their inventor was his girlfriend's stepdad's (now dead) brother. Apparently, that guy wasn't so typical. He had some serious issues.

Austin and his best friend Robby couldn't have known any of that, or that his girlfriend Shann's stepdad kept a bunch of his wacko brother's weird experiments. When the two of them (after a particularly confusing situation) decide to break into Shann's stepdad's store, and unwittingly aid some dumb punks in stealing - and breaking - one of said experiments, they have no idea of the consequences. Like, end-of-the-world giant hungry, horny mantises consequences.

Now the two boys have to decide what to do; both about the confusing situation, and the whole end-of-the-world thing. In the midst of all this, Austin is recording history as he knows it, because that is what Austin does. That is how he deals with the world, and that is how he is dealing with the multiple traumas of this situation. So in addition to these two major events, we learn so much more about Austin's life and history and family. This is a book about everything, like all good books should be.

Smith said he "wrote things that I believed nobody would ever see" in this book, and it shows. It isn't written for an editor or publisher, it isn't "classy," and I wouldn't be surprised to see it on the banned books list in the next few years. What it does have is originality, a sincere voice that I can hear in my head, and a plot within a genre that many consider to be overdone that manages to still hold surprises. I love how Smith writes, and I love this book.

"But even though we dutifully archived elaborate records of everything we've ever done, we've also managed to keep on doing dumber and dumber shit.
This is my history.
There are things in here: babies with two heads, insects as big as refrigerators, God, the devil, limbless warriors, rocket ships, sex, diving bells, theft, wars, monsters, internal combustions engines, love, cigarettes, joy, bomb shelters, pizza, and cruelty.
Just like it's always been," (Smith pg. 8, 2014).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith (Marbury, Book 1)
I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells (John Cleaver, Book 1)
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride (Necromancer, Book 1)

Smith, Andrew. (2014). Grasshopper Jungle: a history. New York: Dutton Books (Penguin Group).