Wonder by R. J. Palacio

[Lilapo9]

This is an excellent story about kindness. The major portion of the story takes place in Beecher Preparatory Middle School where August is a fifth grader who is going to a public school after having been home-schooled his whole life. The struggles to fit in to a new environment don't stop with just the new school. For you see, August was born with severe abnormalities that even surgery could not correct. The actual nature of his deformities is not what matters most in this story although it does set the stage for a great number of his difficulties learning to adapt to his new surroundings.

This story is told in narrative form from not only the main character, but also the supportive characters' points of views. Journey with the main character August as he learns how to cope in a new environment; how to make friends against all odds; how to deal with bullies; and how to find the courage to just be yourself when your entire world is against you out of fear and embarrassment.

While some parts of this story may make you cry, some will anger you. In the end your faith in humanity will be restored. I was particularly impressed with the teacher's use of monthly precepts to help the students build character. This was a good read.

[littlebook]

I read this book for a project last year in my English class. I really think it's one of those books that everyone should read. It brought tears to my eyes.I loved the author's take on the situation that we see every day.

[Karlareads]

I am so glad i read this book. It's a quick read, but it's loaded with lessons. This is something I would recommend to kids and even teenagers.

[cmp librarian]

Palacio, R.J. (2012). Wonder. NY: Alfred A. Knopf. 315 pages | Juvenile Fiction

“I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” (Palacio, p. 3) Adults constantly tell children, don’t judge a book by its cover. But what happens when we judge a person by their looks? Wouldn’t it be better if we taught children the valuable lesson of not judging a boy by his looks? Take a good look at the cover of this story…. What do you see dear reader? Do your eyes claim to see an alien, a freak or something strange? Set aside the judgments don’t let your eyes deceive you and when given the choice in life, choose kind.

August (Auggie) Pullman is ten years old. He was born with a genetic defect called Treacher Collins that changed his face. Due to his health issues, he has gone through at least a dozen surgeries, he has been home schooled all his life. However, this year will be different. He and his family are aware of that Auggie attracts attention due to his features, so the decision to send him to school for 5th Grade is not taken lightly. This is the story of Auggie's first year in middle school, and it is an unbelievably challenging, inspiring, and life-changing journey.

How Auggie, his family, and his classmates deal with Auggie's transition to school forms the basis of the storyline and the narrative is told from several different points of view. Not everyone sees Auggie in the same light, and at times not everyone is willing to understand or love him.

Wonder is a remarkable book about courage, love, and the difference one person can make in the lives of others. In addition, Wonder shows the effects of bullying and society’s heartlessness in judging people by their looks. "I wish every day could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk around and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the masks." (Palacio, p. 73) This quote serves as a stark and honest portrayal of the problems with being different.

[Readwith_royella]

Been hearing a lot about this book.. longing to read it but it's out of stock at my local book store, hopefully I will be able to order it!

[Charlene]

Every human being should read this book. This book helped me remember that being nice is free and one act of kindness can make a person's day better. It teaches us that we all have differences and that's perfectly okay. What's not okay is thinking that our differences is a reason why we're better than everyone else.

[Lilapo9]

Been hearing a lot about this book.. longing to read it but it's out of stock at my local book store, hopefully I will be able to order it!

Don't forget that your children and grandchildren can be valuable resources too. I know that in several of my grade levels that I am guest teaching in the students are reading "Wonder" right now. One of the young men I was talking to the other day told me that his aunt likes to borrow his books when he is at practice and read them. She sits on the bleachers in the gym while he practices and reads.

[dulciescott]

I really didn't enjoy this book. I had to read it for school, and couldn't wait until I had finished it. I found it terribly boring, as I didn't care about the characters

[kderse]

My review of the Julian Chapter. I hope its okay I decided to post it here but I thought maybe some fans of Wonder would be interested.

The Julian Chapter by R.J. Palacio isn’t a sequel or a prequel to the novel wonder but more of the same book only from the view of Julian instead of Auggie. The first day Julian and Auggie meet it’s pretty obvious they are never going to be friends. Julian treated Auggie like he had some disease that was probably contagious. The novel Wonder was written in many different views but did not include Julians, we could only guess what he was feeling and thinking. This book reveals the bully’s side of the story. Why was Julian so mean? Does he have a chance to change his ways and maybe make a friend instead?

I would recommend this book to young children, teenagers, and adults. An easy and meaningful read.

I fell in love with the book Wonder, I even bought in Spanish for my teenage foster daughters. Since I loved the book Wonder so much I knew I had to read this book as well. It wasn’t as good as Wonder but still appreciated. To be honest there were many times I wanted to throw this book across the room. Which may seem weird since I already knew most of the story but seeing how arrogant and ignorant Julian and his parents were made me very frustrated. One thing that I liked about this book is that it didn’t excuse Julian’s or his moms behavior but it did explain their motivations. My favorite character was his grandma. To be honest any character that has to do with the holocaust tends to be my favorite. Since I can remember I fell in love with Anne Frank. I often wonder why I have such a strong attachment to her. This period of history always fascinated me and I Ioved the lessons the grandma had to share with her grandson.

In an interview the author R.J. Palacio was asked why she didn’t originally include Julian’s view. She answered she didn’t want him to have a voice. When we hear someones side of the story sometimes we gain empathy. We understand them better. After reading this book I do have empathy for Julian and I think the decision to separate these characters view was the correct choice. I hope we continue to read more of the characters from Beecher Prep I truly enjoy reading them and they have a great lesson in them for children and adults alike.

I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars.