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Shine!

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Written by: J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
New York: Random House, 2019. Fiction

 Who do you want to be? This may seem like a simple question but for Piper Milly this question really puzzles her. She knows who she doesn't want to be but figuring out who she is and who she wants to be is not as easy as some people lead you to believe. Life for Piper is pretty average until her father gets a new job teaching at a prestigious private school. Now Piper's life is turned upside down when she has to change schools in the middle of the year and make new friends. She knows she won't fit in at Chumley Prep where everyone excels at something because she is just average. When the school announces a new Excelsior competition for all students, Piper wonders if she will ever get a chance to shine.
This is a wonderful heart-warming story about a girl who is facing some real middle school issues. Piper finds out that the true character of a person isn't how many awards you can win or what can be achieved in a classroom, it's people who really matter. This story is a treatise on kindness and would be a fantastic book for anyone to read. If you are a fan of Wonder by Palacio you will really enjoy Shine. 
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