Skip to main content

WONDER by R.J. Palacio


Wonder by R.J. Palacio
copyright date: February 2012
primarily marketed for: young readers (3rd grade and up)

From the moment this book was released, it seems it was all I heard about.  Every blog I read, every tweet I followed announced another reader had fallen in love.

And that is just what will happen to you.

August, Auggie, Pullman is not your average 5th grade boy.  Although, according to Auggie the only reason he is not ordinary is because no one else sees him that way. 

Auggie was born with a cleft palette amongst other medical anomalies that interfered with the development of his facial features.  At the start of the book he says, “I won’t describe what I look like.  Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”

5th grade marks the first year he will attend school after having been homeschooled through years of surgery.  This book is about all the challenges he faces and the affect that his story has on others.

Which brings me to the best feature of this book.  Although it is nearly impossible not to fall in love with Auggie and his way of looking at the world, the way Palacio proceeds to tell his story through the voices of other characters, in addition to Auggie’s own voice, is genius.  Through the other characters the layers of Auggie’s story truly unfold. 

We hear of the impact Auggie’s life has had on his older sister, her boyfriend, her ex-best friend, and his schoolmates.  But mostly, we hear how Auggie’s quiet strength lifts up the hearts of these people.  And he lifts up our hearts as readers as well. 

Although this is a book marketed for much younger readers, it is one of those special books that everyone should read.  If everyone would read Wonder, the world would be a kinder place. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. Deb DayMarch 10, 2012 at 9:53 PM

    I just bought this. SO glad you liked it. I'm thinking of doing a read aloud with my freshmen--what do you think

    ReplyDelete
  2. MandyMarch 11, 2012 at 1:38 AM

    I am reading it now! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. JessWizMarch 17, 2012 at 12:35 PM

    <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 Wonder. I am STILL thinking about it. I'm thinking of using it for a read-aloud next year. Thank you for that wonderful (pun intended) gift, my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stasia DApril 1, 2012 at 4:48 PM

    So great. Loved by kids as well as the adults.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY by Kevin C. Pyle

copyright date: March 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) Despite the fact that the teacher in me sees so many lesson possibilities in Kevin C. Pyle’s graphic novel Take What You Can Carry , you should read it simply for the grace of its stories.   The artwork is as striking as the stories it tells.   Using artwork in two different colors and styles, Pyle tells the stories of two teenage boys living years and miles apart.   And yet, he communicates the universality in their experiences.   One boy is a Japanese American forced to move into an internment camp during WWII.   His family struggles to maintain their dignity and sense of peace under unbearable conditions. The other is a rebellious boy with an attitude whose reckless behavior causes him to wind up in trouble with the law.   To make amends, he finds himself completing community service hours in the most unlikely place.   I found my...
1 comment
Read more

ALL THESE THINGS I’VE DONE by Gabrielle Zevin

copyright date: September 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (8 th grade and up) I wish I would’ve known this was the beginning of a series before I started this book.   Then again, I might never have picked it up if I thought I might be committing to multiple books… At any rate, this is not a story I will be sad to return to this fall when the sequel is released.   Anya’s story takes place in New York City, in the future.   Around the time you will be old enough to be grandparents. This is a sort of post-apocalyptic, dystopian kind of book in a mild way.   Basically, the United States has self-destructed, and yet life seems to go surprisingly similar to the way we live nowadays.   Except that water and paper are costly and hard to come by.   Chocolate is prohibited.   Caffeine is an illegal drug.   Which is all to say that the setting alone is intriguing. Add to that setting, the fact that Anya is the oldest daughter of the ...
3 comments
Read more

NOTHING SPECIAL by Geoff Herbach

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) This is Geoff Herbach 's sequel to Stupid Fast and continues Felton Reinstein’s story in true Felton fashion.   This is definitely a smart guy book—a book for smart guys, who definitely love a good chuckle. The story opens at the end of summer with Felton typing a letter to his girlfriend Aleah while flying in an airplane on his way to retrieve his younger brother from Florida.   The entire book is written as one giant letter to Aleah explaining how his summer led him to this moment in time.   After Felton and his brother Andrew got some help with their mother’s issues, Felton went right back to throwing himself into football and track—because he is stupid fast.   However, Andrew did not cope quite as well as Felton did.   Felton ignores his brother’s cries for help and continuously lets him down.   His brother ends up cooking up an elaborate plan to run ...
1 comment
Read more