Because of Mr. Terupt, by Rob Buyea--9/10

This is one of the best books I have read in a really long time. So sweet, and so wonderful.

It's about a fifth-grade class in Massachussetts, specifically seven children who alternate as the book's narrators, and their new teacher, Mr. Terupt. Peter is the class loudmouth and troublemaker; Alexia is queen of the girl wars; Luke is the brainy kid; Jeffrey just hates school; Danielle is Lexie's lackey, in one day and out the next; Anna never talks in class; and Jessica is the new girl from California. Mr. Terupt is new, and he's like no teacher they've ever had.

The cover blurbs let you know that the book is leading up to some kind of tragic accident, so from the beginning I was reading with a sense of apprehension. The narration, the pacing--everything is done beautifully, and when it happened, I pretty much had tears in my eyes for the whole second half of the book.

It's a middle grade book, so it goes really fast--I read almost all of it in a couple hours yesterday (and we were late to hang out with friends because I was not putting it down 30 pages from the end). No matter how little time you have to read, or what kind of books you usually like to read, I think you will love this and I recommend that you locate a copy of it immediately.