by R.J. Palacio
Rating: PG
It's 5th grade and officially time for August's first year of school. Oh, he'd been educated previously - home schooling only - but this was his very first year at a real, live school. Although they tried to hide it, August knew he wasn't the only one nervous about this move - his parents were also scared. They were worried the other kids would be cruel to August. August knew they would be - of course they would. Kids were always mean to August. Not always on purpose, but the cruelty of children had become an expected part of his life. Because August had a terribly deformed face. There was nothing he could do about it. The many surgeries in his short life had improved, but far from fixed it. Can August survive real school? Will anybody be able to see beneath his exterior to who he is inside? What will his first year of school hold?
This book was decent. It lacked subtlety and the preachiness sometimes overpowered the story but all in all, it wasn't bad. There were a couple of instances of taking the Lord's name in vain. No other curse words were used and there are no other content concerns.
