Bridge of Time

Bridge of Time
By Lewis Buzbee

This is a fun time travel story, mostly because it's set right here in San Francisco!
Middle schoolers Lee Jones and Joan Lee are best friends, and both have just heard that their parents are planning to divorce...the next morning, while on a boring school field trip to Fort Point, they are suddenly transported back in time to 1864. And who do they run into? Mark Twain (who introduces himself as Sam Clemens).
They have many crazy adventures while learning some unpleasant history lessons, especially with regard to how Chinese immigrants were first treated in San Francisco. And they travel to some other time periods in the City, too, including the future.

Wonder

Wonder
By R.J. Palacio

Now this is truly a fabulous book. An important book, too, about a 5th grade boy (just starting middle school) with a severe facial deformity who steps into a brand-new school...Auggie is a perfectly normal kid, except for his face, but most of his classmates--not to mention the rest of the world--treat him as if he's a freak.
Wonder is a story told by different people; Auggie himself, his older sister Olivia, her boyfriend Justin, and Auggie's two friends Summer and Jack. Each of them offers their own perspective of what it is like to live as or near someone who is often stared at, ignored, and bullied.
Luckily, Auggie has a loving and understanding family, and with their support he is brave enough to make it through his first year of middle school.
I laughed, I cried...I think this book is absolutely wonderful.