WONDER by R.J. Palacio

Sometimes you come across a book that hits your heart so hard, you have no choice but to cry. Not because it's sad, but because it's so true and honest. And real. Cry and then spread the word.

Released in 2012, WONDER was a New York Times best seller, and a "best of 2012" for School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publisher's Weekly.

Have you read WONDER by R.J. Palacio yet?


From Goodreads:

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?

Told from the perspective of Auggie, his sister Via, his friends Summer and Jack, and Via's friends Justin and Miranda, WONDER takes place over Auggie's first year in "real" school--5th grade for him. It's more than a book about a boy convincing his classmates he's just like them. It's a book about how one boy's life touches all of the lives around him. 

You should read it. You'll laugh and you'll cry. And then you'll tell everyone you know that they should read it.

Can you tell I loved it? 

The totally cool thing was that my 10-year-old read it immediately after me. And the day she finished it, we talked about it with a friend of hers who had also read it. So much fun to have a conversation about a poignant book with some smart fourth graders.

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


From Goodreads:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.
As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

***
I've seriously been hearing good things about this book since it came out. But I wasn't expecting to LOVE it the way I did. It's just a good, sweet, young adult romance. Filled with teen angst and first love. Good (nice) characters, cute (nice) boys, and real friends--there were some mean girls too, but it felt real. No car crashes, no crazy twists. Sound like it could have been boring, right? NO! Stephanie does a great job getting inside Anna's head--I loved her. I want to be her friend. I don't normally reread books, but this one almost makes me want to start over at page one.

Oh yeah, and I want my YA novel to be on the shelf next to this one. I want my YA novel to be this book's BFF.



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Armchair BEA - Best of 2011 (so far)

So I don't have anything to give away (alas) so my Armchair BEA post is about the great books I've read (so far) that have come out this year.


ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis
LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa and Laura Roeker
SUGAR AND ICE by Kate Messner
MATCHED by Allie Conde - even though it came out LATE last fall, I'm counting it!
THE OTHER LIFE by Ellen Meister
SUMNER ISLAND by Michael Cormier
THE THRONE OF FIRE by Rick Riordon


I've read more, but these are the ones that were released this year! I expect to see POSSESSION by Elana Johnson in my mailbox in a week or two!

What good books of 2011 have you read?

Go check out Armchair BEA and see what giveaways are going on today! They are also profiling new fall catalogs--and I'm excited to see Capstone on the list! While it's not on the website yet, I've got a book in their fall lineup.  THE REAL STORY ABOUT GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN COLONIAL AMERICA is scheduled for a September 2011 release.

Afterglow

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be contributing to the group blog Afterglow Book Reviews. There are a great group of writers and readers who are part of this group--I love the concept:

Remember the feeling you got when you closed the back cover on a book that spoke to you? How you set it aside on your end table or night stand and lay back feeling amazed, traumatized, bewildered, and somehow changed?


That's the afterglow.  


Afterglow Book Reviews highlight only our very favorite books, and reviews are posted in the midst of the afterglow. This makes us more like book addict enablers than reviewers, but we're okay with that.

Check it out! I posted my first review today!