Wonder

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio, was wonderful to read. It is a story about August Pullman (Auggie), a new fifth grader at Beecher Prep Middle School. However, he's not like all the other new fifth graders. Auggie has what many people unkindly call a "deformed" face -- his eyes are small slants on his face that are about an inch lower than they should be, he had to get part of his hip bone implanted into his chin, and he doesn't really have regular ears, in fact, he doesn't really have ears at all. Despite all this, he has some of the most patient loving parents in the world, and an even more patient sister, Olivia, who puts up with just about everything.

     His parents want the best for him and for that reason, he has been homeschooled up until now. When his parents decide it's time for him to go to school for the first time, Auggie is really nervous. He's pretends he's used to kids averting their eyes when they see him, not playing with him on the playground and even running away from him. But at school it would be ten times worse. Finally, he agrees to go on a tour and three kids come to lead him around. One turns out to be a jerk but the other two are nice enough that Auggie decides to go to school.

     This book tells the story of Auggie's fifth grade year from six different points of view and it is amazingly well done. Most people would shy away from using six different characters to tell the story but not Palacio! These six characters change and grow with Auggie and stand up for him when society has a hard time accepting him. It was interesting and really thought provoking. The author brings up many issues in this story, mainly having to do with the phrase, "Don't judge a book by it's cover", though in this case (as the back of the book says), "Don't judge a boy by his face." Although some of the reactions caused by Auggie's face are unconcious, instinct reactions, some of them are purposefully mean and rude. I thought this was a very important issue to have because that is what everyone faces everyday, whether or not they have something wrong with their face. We are constantly being told not to judge people and this book put it into really great perspective -- especially from the bully victim's point of view. This book was very hard to put down, mainly because of how the author manages to rope you in from the very beginning and create such real emotions and relationships. It was very touching and I guarente that there will be at least one character in that book that you can relate to.

     This was an amazing read and I would recommend it to everyone. It is not very difficult and is so interesting that it is a pretty quick read. Hope all y'alls find time in your busy schedule to fit in this wonderful book! A