Flowers for Algernon.
I read it in sixth grade. While I’m not intellectually disabled like Charlie I am autistic with learning disabilies (dyslexia and dyscalculia) and while the story was heartbreaking it was one of the first times I’d ever read a book that was through the perspective of a neurodivergent character and that his struggles were taken seriously and his mistreatment was acknowledged as being unjust and traumatic. It was one of the first times I really felt seen in fiction even though I didn’t recognize that’s why I liked it so much until I became an adult.
I DNF books liberally. Too many books and too little time, life is too short to read books I don’t like. Usually if a book doesn’t grab me within 20, sometimes 50 pages, then it’s not going to, and I have tolerance for slow starts.