I started this book thinking it was going to be a version of the book Wonder. And it was for a bit, the main character, Will, has a deformity with his chin, he gets teased for it, and needs surgery to correct it. Then as the book went along an environmental storyline about the Back 40, a nature area behind Will's school where he finds turtles popped up. Then I thought, oh this is more like the book Hoot. Then the storyline about Will's visits with hospital-bound RJ popped up and I realized this book is truly its own story. This is a wonderful coming of age story about a boy approaching his upcoming bar mitzvah. Will learns and grows as this book moves along and we learn and grow along with him.

I really enjoyed this book. I can't recommend it to my elementary school teachers as a read aloud because of a joke in the book playing with the word herp and herpes. Herpetology is the study of amphibians and Herb's Herps is the name of Will's favorite store to get his turtle supplies. And of course, it's funny -herps and herpes. But it would be awkward for an elementary school teacher to read aloud and in some cases, if students have opted out of family life education, it would be illegal. So, this lands the book square in middle and high school for me, which is not a bad thing. It's a great story, the main characters are teenagers and it will fit just fine. I guess I'm just a tad jealous because I wanted the book for my library in elementary school!