Is Your Book's Hero as Special as this Cat??

My magic violin will save da world, I tell you, da world!!!!

Okay, so generally when we are writing about children's fantasy middle-grade or YA, we see a lot of the same storyline over again.

By and large, it goes something like this:
Step 1. Our Hero is called to adventure.
Step 2. He/she has a road of trials and tribulations they must face.
Step 3. He/she must complete a mission.
Step 4. He/she must go back where hence they came. (That's in hero language)
Step 5. He/she uses their newly learned skill, power, etc. to save or better the world.

Sure, we could say this is a formula. I'm positive you could all name several books in which you've seen this, but what, in your opinion, makes any of those books break through the above formula and elevate to a truly fantastic book? What did that writer do differently? Was it the hero? The plot? The creativity? The world saving magic violin played by a hairless kitty? What made that book rock out the hero theme?

xoxo -- Hilary