Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen pulls adults as well as children into the challenging world of youth. What can a young boy do to save and endangered specie of bird? Quite a lot really, and some of it will get him into serious trouble with the law. What can Roy do about the school bully?  He's had lots of experience with bullies in different schools as his family moved around the country.  Some of his solutions are a bit unorthodox and are fun to imagine as the reader follows Roy from one encounter to another. Our granddaughter requested this book for Christmas, and I can see why she wanted it.  It is a great read.
Readers 4th grade  through adults will enjoy this novel.

Play The Cards You Are Dealt

        Play The Cards You Are Dealt by Galand Nuchols is the author's tiny step into the world of science fiction, or is ESP really a well hidden fact and not science fiction at all? Eddy Turner is an empath, feeling others' emotions offear, joy, curiosity, pain, etc. Dealing with the constant stimulus of emotional fallout from
people surrounding him daily is difficult.
       Eddy's stepfather is  physically and emotionally abusive to both Eddy and his mother. Their secret plans to escape the man are interrupted when Eddy's second ESP talent makes itself known. Friends of Eddy's blood father are called.  With their help, Eddy and his mother begin a new life in a secret compound where talents are protected and trained to use their special gifts.
       Can Eddy's anger and distrust of people be overcome by these new people in his life? Will he ever have real friends like normal boys his age? When he protests that life isn't fair, he is given the advice he must play the cards he is dealt.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

    

       In her novel, Wonder, Ms. Palacio created a character in August that most kids and adults can identify with, maybe not physically, but emotionally. Most of us have felt unattractive, left out, ignored, the butt of jokes, etc. at sometime in our lives. This was a constant feeling for August.

       August tells his story in first person. In the first chapter August describes himself as ordinary in the fact that he likes to ride his bike, eat ice cream, and feel ordinary.  He then goes on to say, “But … ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds.”  He says later, “I won’t describe what I look like.  Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”

       Because of his physical condition from the time of birth, August was unable to attend school. He was home schooled instead.  When he was in fifth grade, his mother decided it is time for him to break into the real world of children, the school classroom filled with, “ordinary” kids.  It was a terrifying challenge for August, but off to school he went.

        The academics was a piece of cake for the most part.  The social encounters were many and truly mountainous. We sometimes judge a book by its cover.  Regrettably, we often judge a person by their appearance. And so it was with August.