Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Maguire's Wicked is the life story of Elphaba, who we know as the Wicked Witch of the West. Her life begins rough, being born green and all. She is the oldest daughter of a Unionist missionary and spends most of her childhood traveling with her family in the Quadling region of Oz. Elphaba attends Shiz University, where she meets and rooms with Galinda, who will eventually change her name to Glinda following a tragedy. After a disastrous meeting with the Wizard in the Emerald City, Elphaba drops out of Shiz and disappears. Her family, especially her younger disabled sister Nessarose, is devastated over her disappearance and wonder if she died. Elphaba surfaces again, still in the Emerald City working for an underground anti-Wizard movement (some might call it a terrorist cell). After a plan goes horribly wrong, Elphaba disappears again before wandering the farthest areas of Oz. She has begun dressing like and calling herself a witch so people will leave her alone. She is taken in by the family of an old friend from Shiz University and she feels like she's part of a family again. She begins to hear rumors of her sister Nessarose, now known throughout Oz as the Wicked Witch of the East, and decides to visit her sister. The sisters don't part on good terms and before they see each other again a storm rips through Munchkinland and a house falls on Nessarose, killing her. In the days and weeks that follow, Elphaba makes a number of poor, rash decisions and we all know how that story ends.

Wicked is a wonderfully written prequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, so engaging that it was turned into an award-winning Broadway musical. Elphaba is judged from the minute she's born and her green skin seems to make people assume she's a bad person. (She's got a bit of an attitude, but who wouldn't if everyone treated them suspiciously.) Nessarose became wicked out of her belief that she was some kind of prophet for her Unnamed God, while Elphaba was more misunderstood than wicked. It's a great story and already knowing the ending doesn't spoil a word of it.