Wonder
R. J. Palacio
2012, 315 pages
Children’s Fiction
This is the story of August, a young boy who is just a little bit different from everyone else. He was born with a rare genetic facial issue that has made his face look mutated from all of the surgeries that he has had in order to correct it. He has spent most of his life wearing an astronaut helmet to hide his face when in public, but now he’ll face the hardest challenge of them all: middle school. August has always been home-schooled by his mother and now is finally getting a chance to go to a real school. Naturally, he and the rest of his family are nervous, but what follows is a true journey of kindness and friendships, and learning that it’s okay to be different.
I absolutely loved reading this book. It has such a fantastic message behind it that I think both children and adults can appreciate. There are a lot of different people out there in the world, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be kind to them. Going through middle school can be a rough journey, and as you follow August through his experiences you can really feel the emotions that he feels. I also love that the author gives you the perspectives of the other people around him so that you get different sides of the stories.
That’s really what kept me going because something would happen, I would wonder why, and then there would be an explanation from the character’s perspective later rather than it just being all from August’s point of view.
Elizabeth SousaConcord Public Library
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