VIRALS by Kathy Reichs

Virals by Kathy Reichs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Teenager Tony Brennan is just getting used to living with the father she never knew on a secluded island of the coast of South Carolina. Luckily she has a loyal group of friends she spends her time with. When Tony discovers an undercover experiment involving a furry little wolf-dog pup, she convinces her friends to help her break the pup out of captivity. In doing so the group is exposed to an experimental version of the parvovirus which seems to heighten the friends' senses to that of a wild canine. If that isn't intriguing enough, the friends discover a skeleton and use their new "powers" to help solve a decades old murder case.

With murder and supernatural powers, Kathy Reichs has provided a high-paced adventure mystery that is sure to keep your interest.

WONDER by R.J. Palacio

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To quote a line in J.M. Barrie’s The Little White Bird as referenced in Wonder by R.J. Palacio, “Shall we make a new rule of life…always try to be a little kinder than is necessary?” The story of August Pullman in Wonder is a story for all ages on the importance of not just being kind to the point of being polite but of taking one step further and being even kinder, being a friend.
August Pullman was born with a deformity. A deformity so severe that Auggie himself says, “I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” A deformity so severe that Auggie walked around with an astronaut helmet on his head for two years to avoid the stranger’s stares, gasps and screams. Now Auggie is going to school for the first time, middle school no less where life can be cruel to even the most “normal” looking kid. Author R.J. Polacio takes the reader through Auggie’s fifth grade year through the eyes of six different characters, including friends and family members. A year that is difficult at best and heartbreaking at worst. But there is always a ray of sunshine in the form of the courageous Auggie and the shift in the attitudes of the students who walk the hallways with a classmate who is normal despite his differences and still extraordinary, a wonder.
As I read Wonder I felt as though I was in the hallway with Auggie. How would I have reacted as a fifth grader? I want to say that I would have been kinder than necessary as I strive to be now. Read Wonder by R.J. Palacio and consider J.M. Barrie’s challenge to “be kinder than is necessary”. Even better read it with child, grandchild, or neighbor and share the message.