Wonder

felicisowl - Wonder was a book I first read 2 years ago, and over the years, I just couldn't stop re-reading it. The kids at my school call this book "childish", "horrible," and "weird just like the kid in the book." I think just the opposite. August is a normal kid on the inside, but not on the outside. His face has a 'deformity', which is pretty much one of the best words I could think of to describe it. Wherever he goes, people get frightened of him, scream, and run away. August always wanted a normal life and a normal face. August has always been homeschooled, but now he has to face a new challenge - actually going to school, surrounded by his peers. He was shown around by three of the 'nicest kids in school,' Jack, Julian, and Charlotte. August later finds out that Julian is not very nice at all. Once he starts going to school, August becomes best friends with Jack and people quickly start getting used to his face after weeks and months go by. He also becomes friends with Summer, and they make their lunch table, a "Summer-Only Table." At Halloween, August goes to school in a Bleeding Scream costume, when everyone thought he was going in a Boba Fett costume. August overhears Jack talking to Julian about their friendship. Jack said some very uncaring remarks about August, which he didn't really mean. But August got hurt and decided to not to be friends with Jack anymore. He was so hurt that he wanted to quit school, but his sister Via, convinces him not to. His sister Via was the one who had stuck up for him through thick and thin. Jack is very confused to why August doesn't talk to him anymore (since he didn't know it was August in the Bleeding Scream costume.) He asks Summer (who August had confided in) and Summer says, "Bleeding Scream," but Jack doesn't understand. Later, when Jack and August are paired for a science project. Jack pieces together the whole thing and realized that August was the person in the Bleeding Scream costume. Then, when Jack is talking with Julian and Julian calls August a freak, Jack punches Julian, defending his friend. Julian's mom takes it out on August instead, saying that August shouldn't even be in Beecher Prep. Meanwhile, August learns that Jack stood up for him and they become friends again. There are many characters, and each character takes a turn telling the story, so there are many chapters about the characters, side-stories, kind of. In these chapters, August and Via's dog, Daisy, dies. It is very sad and whenever I read it, I keep crying because of their sadness. Via also stars in a play and makes up with her friend Miranda, who she had separated from earlier in the book. Near the end of the book, the whole fifth grade (the grade that August is in) takes a trip to a nature reserve park. While August and Jack are in the woods, some seventh graders insult August, calling him "Gollum" and "Freddy Krueger", which was similar to the insults my friends said about August. Miles, Amos, and Henry, who were formerly friends with Julian, stood up for him. This reminds me when my friends and I all stood up against a bully, who was a common enemy. In the end of the book, we learn that Julian will not be returning to Beecher Prep in the fall. Also, as the school year finishes, there is an award ceremony. In the award ceremony, the principal gives a speech on how someone in this room accomplished great things, and overcame a lot of things. The last award in the book was given to August because he overcame everything, even with so many obstacles thrown in his way. I also want to give a special...

Starred review from February 20, 2012
Auggie Pullman was born with severe facial deformitiesâno outer ears, eyes in the wrong place, his skin "melted"âand he's learned to steel himself against the horrified reactions he produces in strangers. Now, after years of homeschooling, his parents have enrolled him in fifth grade. In short chapters told from various first-person perspectives, debut author Palacio sketches his challenging but triumphant year. Though he has some expectedly horrible experiences at school, Auggie has lucked out with the adults in his lifeâhis parents love him unconditionally, and his principal and teachers value kindness over all other qualities. While one bully manages, temporarily, to turn most of Auggie's classmates against him (Auggie likens this to becoming the human equivalent of "the Cheese Touch," a clever Diary of a Wimpy Kid reference), good wins out. Few first novels pack more of a punch: it's a rare story with the power to open eyesâand heartsâto what it's like to be singled out for a difference you can't control, when all you want is to be just another face in the crowd. Ages 8â12. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group.

Starred review from December 15, 2011
After being homeschooled for years, Auggie Pullman is about to start fifth grade, but he's worried: How will he fit into middle-school life when he looks so different from everyone else? Auggie has had 27 surgeries to correct facial anomalies he was born with, but he still has a face that has earned him such cruel nicknames as Freak, Freddy Krueger, Gross-out and Lizard face. Though "his features look like they've been melted, like the drippings on a candle" and he's used to people averting their eyes when they see him, he's an engaging boy who feels pretty ordinary inside. He's smart, funny, kind and brave, but his father says that having Auggie attend Beecher Prep would be like sending "a lamb to the slaughter." Palacio divides the novel into eight parts, interspersing Auggie's first-person narrative with the voices of family members and classmates, wisely expanding the story beyond Auggie's viewpoint and demonstrating that Auggie's arrival at school doesn't test only him, it affects everyone in the community. Auggie may be finding his place in the world, but that world must find a way to make room for him, too. A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder. (Fiction. 8-14)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from February 1, 2012

Gr 4-7-Due to a rare genetic disorder, Auggie Pullman's head is malformed, his facial features are misshapen, and he has scars from corrective surgery. After much discussion and waffling, he and his parents decide it's time for him to go to a regular school for the fifth grade instead of being homeschooled. All his life Auggie has seen the shocked expressions and heard the whispers his appearance generates, and he has his coping strategies. He knows that except for how he looks, he's a normal kid. What he experiences is typical middle school-the good and the bad. Meanwhile, his beautiful sister is starting high school and having her own problems. She's finding that friendships change and, though it makes her feel guilty, she likes not being labeled as Auggie's sister. Multiple people tell this story, including Auggie, two of his new school friends, his sister, and his sister's former best friend. Palacio has an exceptional knack for writing realistic conversation and describing the thoughts and emotions of the characters. Everyone grows and develops as the story progresses, especially the middle school students. This is a fast read and would be a great discussion starter about love, support, and judging people on their appearance. A well-written, thought-provoking book.-Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2012
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Kids' books about befriending somebody different could fill a library. But this debut novel rises to the top through its subtle shifting of focus to those who are normal, thereby throwing into doubt presumptions readers may have about any of the characters. Nominally, the story is about 10-year-old August, a homeschooled boy who is about to take the plunge into a private middle school. Even 27 operations later, Auggie's face has what doctors call anomolies; Auggie himself calls it my tiny, mushed-up face. He is gentle and smart, but his mere physical presence sends the lives of a dozen people into a tailspin: his sister, his old friends, the new kids he meets, their parents, the school administratorsthe list goes on and on. Palacio's bold move is to leave Auggie's first-person story to follow these increasingly tangential characters. This storytelling strategy is always fraught with peril because of how readers must refresh their interest level with each new section. However, much like Ilene Cooper's similarly structured Angel in My Pocket (2011), Palacio's novel feels not only effortless but downright graceful, and by the stand-up-and-cheer conclusion, readers will be doing just that, and feeling as if they are part of this troubled but ultimately warm-hearted community.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)