I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. Starting fifth grade at Beecher Prep, Auggie wants nothing more than to be treated like everybody else—but his new classmates can’t get past the way he looks.

Beginning from Auggie’s point of view and expanding to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others, the perspectives converge to form a portrait of one community’s struggle to live up to its values.

R. J. Palacio has called her debut novel “a meditation on kindness”—indeed, every reader will come away with a greater appreciation for the simple courage of friendship. Auggie is a hero to remember who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.