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Feb 23, 2012

Wendy Darling rated it:

Wonder is one of those rare books that makes you want to hug everyone in it so tightly that they’ll have no doubt about how much you love them…and beyond that, it also makes you want to reach out and hug the whole world. It’s an upbeat, humorous, life-affirming story that deserves to be read—and it’s one that may just change its readers, too.

If you remember how terrifying it was to be a kid on a day to day basis, you’ll appreciate August’s story. 10-year-old Auggie is going to school More...

68 comments like (81 people liked it)

Nov 16, 2011

Aly (Fantasy4eva) rated it:

Personally, I prefer my ARC cover. You like? :)

"

August has always known that he's different. But he's learned to long accept that people will always stare at his face, and there's nothing he can do about it. So why not just live life the best way possible? With a loving family always by his side, although originally not at all happy about starting school, he soon starts to warm to the idea. Having been home-schooled for many years he is now more vulnerable than ev More...

8 comments like (18 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2012

Monica rated it:

I went a bit kicking and screaming into the reading of this one because I thought --- yet another soppy sad story of a kid with a serious problem. Not to mention realistic school stories too often feel forced to this veteran classroom teacher. But as I read further into it I was completely taken in. This is a truly lovely story and beautifully, beautifully told. The movement between different characters' points of view is nicely done. The children and adults all seem real as can be, not a one More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

EeeJay rated it:

What can I say? Where do I begin? How do I express what reading this book made me feel? It's not a book, it's a journey. It's a tragedy and a comedy and true and false at the same time. I feel privileged to have been allowed to read this (typos and all). And Auggie's right, I don't want to imagine him. I don't want to avert my eyes from his face. I don't want to hurt his feelings and feel like I behaved like all the other people did. But you know that it would happen if you saw him. That's the s More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2012

Kirsty (overflowing library) rated it:

Wonder is quite simply an awesome book. I enjoyed every page and devoured it within the space of a few hours. It is one of those books I can see I will continue to recommend for years to come.

Wonder is about a young boy called Auggie who was born with a deformed face due to faults within his genetic makeup. As a small child he endured hours of painful surgical procedures but still he doesn't look 'normal'. Reading the book gave me real insight for ordinary people who are considered 'od More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 22, 2012

The Reading Countess rated it:

Auggie and Melody (from Out Of My Mind) have much in common: they are both intelligent, kind and have something that sets them apart from everyone else. That special something might be, to the outside observer, a physical difference that can be spotted without looking deeply. But that's what makes these two books so great. Looking deeper, we see that they both offer much to us in terms of teaching us what it is to be human-truly human-in an inhumane world.

My own complaint was that i More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 20, 2012

Lizzy rated it:

Wow. I saw this book at work, and thought it looked interesting. On that spur of the moment decision I took home my ARC. Wow.

I read this in a day, it was one of those books which you can't put down. Did I have things to do? yes. When it came to midnight, was I dead tired? yes. Did I ever put this book down until it was finished? no.

I would recommend that everyone reads this book. I think the book is mainly focused at the 8 - 14 yr old crowd, but I'd recommend it to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 20, 2012

Tom rated it:

What could possibly be worse than middle school?
How about middle school after being home-schooled your whole life?
Now, how about having a horrible facial deformity?

So it is for 10 year-old August. He has loving and supportive parents, a four-years-older sister who dotes on him, and a dog he adores.

Auggie was born with a 1 in 5 million combination of two severe facial birth defects. As he puts it, "Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse."
More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 16, 2012

Mark rated it:

"I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an XBox. Stuff like that makes me ordinary, I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go. "

10 year-old August Pullman likes all the things other boys his age do, and wants to do all the same things. The More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2012

Kelly rated it:

August (who goes by "Auggie") has this weird fluke thing that makes him look different than anyone else. (He basically tells readers he won't describe himself, and then adds "Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.") He was homeschooled for most of his life but now his parents have decided that he needs to go to school...just in time for middle school. Still, against all odds, Auggie makes some friends. (And, of course, spends a not-small amount of time being stare More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it:

Middle school sucked for me. You may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm really not. During the entirety of middle school, I never had any real friends. I may have looked normal, but I was still definitely an outcast. I cannot imagine going through what Auggie went through. His strength of character to be able to face that situation is incredible.

Part of why he could survive the experience was just Auggie. He's a smart kid and really loved the learning part of school. When people stop to n More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Grady rated it:

Diversity

RJ Palacio has written a book that is designated as a young person's book, ages 8 and up. And while the story of a child born with facial anomalies requiring repeated surgeries and still leaving him 'different looking' (read 'deformed') is told in brief chapters and solid writing that youngsters can surely appreciate, the message of the book is equally appropriate for adults. Diversity. Whether that be in physical configuration either from genetic determination or from in More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Cathe rated it:

10-year-old August was born with a several facial deformity. He has always been homeschool, but the story starts when his parents decide he should attend a private middle-school. Most of the kids are afraid to go near him for fear of catching "The Plague" and some are outright hostile, but August does manage to make a couple of friends who help him get through the year.

What I liked: I really appreciated what the author was trying to do--get kids to see that even when people More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 17, 2012

Richie rated it:

Richie's Picks: WONDER by R.J. Palacio, Knopf, February 2012, 320p., ISBN: 97800-375-86902-0; Libr. ISBN: 978-0-375-96902-7

"But if you can't look inside you
Find out who I am too
Be in a position to make me feel
So damn unpretty"
--T-Boz Watkins & Dallas Austin

"Rat boy. Freak. Monster. Freddy Kruger. E.T. Gross-out. Lizzard face. Mutant. I know the names they call me. I've been in enough playgrounds to know kids can be mean. I know, I kn More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 05, 2012

Beth rated it:

Auggie is starting out as a fifth grader at a new school, and being the new kid has him concerned. Especially since this is the first time Auggie has been to school, ever.
He has been homeschooled up to this point because of the many surgeries he’s had to repair an inherited medical condition which affects his physical appearance.
“I know I’m not an ordinary kid,” he says. “I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an Xbox. But I know or More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 27, 2011

Mar rated it:

Ever look back on your school life and think ‘Glad I don’t have to do that again!’ Imagine dealing with the typical school issues (opposite sex, hierarchy of groups, invites to parties … this is before we even get into grades) when you also have a disability? Then imagine the disability is a physical one.

That is the challenge that meets August. August was born with a facial deformity. He is approaching grade 5 and after dealing with surgeries and hospital visits most of his life, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 16, 2011

Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it:

Can I just say right now that I loved this book? I want everyone to read it. In fact, if it were out right now I'd be buying copies to give to other people to read. I loved it, it was so sweet and real. It's sad, funny, inspiring, infuriating, eye opening and awesome. I'd like to think that it wouldn't have been me that would have reacted to seeing Auggie for the first time, but I know I'd be lying.

When Auggie first talks to us, he doesn't even describe himself. He says, “whatever yo More...

11 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 09, 2011

Reving rated it:

Amazing. I haven't loved a book this much since The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Funny, touching, heart-breaking, sincere, moving, what other excellent-review-type-words can I put in here? This is a must-read. Of course, I've got it pre-ordered for my library and I have emailed our middle school librarian and a couple other middle school teachers as well, to let them know that this baby needs to be on their list of purchases. I can't say enough good things about it.

More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2012

Morgan rated it:

For about a week before I read this book I was in a reading rut. I had started 4 different books and managed to finish none of them. Nothing appealed to me, nothing made me want to sit down and completely lose track of time while reading. Until Wonder came along. Wonder came across my radar through a NetGalley email. The cover art jumped off the computer screen and then I read the description and was hooked.
Each of Palacio's perspectives are so well developed I feel like these are people More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 15, 2012

Cyndy rated it:

For those of you looking for the tl;dr version of this review: Wonder is brilliant; I'm recommending it to every middle-grader parent I know, parent of a boy or girl regardless; you need to read this right now.

I picked up a galley of R. J. Palacio's Wonder from NetGalley on a day it was promoted simply because I'm always looking for middle-grade books for my fourth-grader; he gets bored easily and he's drawn only to male protagonists. I'm also working with both my third- and fourth-g More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 19, 2012

Sezjb rated it:

I can't remember the last time I got so emotionally involved in a book, this story didn't just leave me a crying mess it broke my heart a little too, and I couldn't have picked a better ending for this fantastic book.
We have August (Auggie) ten years old a regular kid who's funny, really sweet loves his Xbox, Star Wars and reading but there's one thing that stands him apart from every other ten year old his face is deformed, he has had twenty seven surgeries on his face since he was born b More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 17, 2012

Carrie rated it:

August (Auggie) Pullman is a 10 year old boy who is much the same as other kids his age--he loves Star Wars, playing with his dog, and his XBox. But he has one very important thing that makes him different: his face. Auggie was born with a severe craniofacial deformity that even several surgeries have not been able to fix.

But life has been mostly OK for Auggie, because he's lived with his loving sister and parents, who homeschooled him. But then they tell Auggie something he is no More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 28, 2012

Cathy rated it:

August Pullman is honest, vulnerable, and strong beyond measure. This beautiful story is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit. I laughed, I cried, and I have tucked The Pullman family, Summer and Jack safely away in my reading heart. "Shall we make a new rule of life...always try to be a little kinder than is necessary?" like Colby Sharp, I cried because I didn't want it to end, and like Paul W. Hankins, I recommend that you do NOT miss this one.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2012

Emmaj rated it:

There were a couple things I really liked about this book. I liked that the narrator changed and you got to see a number of different sides of what was going on. Sometimes this was the same scene from different view points, but sometimes it was person A narrating the winter and person B narrating the spring.
I liked that August, our hero, does not describe himself. You have to wait until the sister gets to tell her side to find out about what is wrong with him.
I like that, while th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 14, 2012

Dani rated it:

August has a face like nothing anyone has ever seen. Like a screaming and running away kind of face. He has accepted that this is the face he has. Now he has to figure out how to cope with a world that has never seen a face like his. He has been homeschooled his whole life and now for 5th grade, his parents want him to go to school. A regular school. With kids who don't know him. Kids who have never seen him. For fifth grade. I know I have always thought that 5th grade is the hardest school year More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Heather rated it:

“The universe has not been kind to August Pullman.” Miranda—the former best friend of August’s sister Olivia, spoke these words to Olivia’s boyfriend, and no one at Beecher Middle School would argue with the truth of her statement. August, a fifth grader at Beecher, was born with a severe facial deformity, requiring twenty-seven surgeries before he was ten years old. Concerned about overprotecting their son, Auggie’s parents decide that instead of home schooling, he should start attending schoo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 19, 2012

Sarah rated it:

R.J. Palacio has created an amazing, heart-wrenching book in Wonder that will leave you cheering in the end for Auggie and the family he forms around him. Told in eight voices ranging from Auggie to his sister's first high school boyfriend, Wonder is the story of one boy's first year of middle school. This is a book that must be shared.

Starting middle school is rough. New kids, new classes, new places to get lost, and new people to make fun of you. Auggie is taken to his new middle sch More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

Lindsay (Little Reader Library) rated it:

'My name is August, by the way. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.'

August 'Auggie' Pullman is a ten-year-old boy, much like many other boys of his age, except that he was born with facial disfigurements. He has undergone countless operations but he is still aware of how different he looks from everyone else, and he is acutely aware of the diverse reactions he gets from people. The novel is narrated by several different voices, each in th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Newengland rated it:

August "Auggie" Pullman has a severe facial deformity. His ears are two tiny cauliflowers. His eyes are low on his face. His mouth has been operated on multiple times due to a cleft palate and other problems. But Auggie's biggest problem can be summed up in two words: middle school. He's about to be entered into his first mainstream school as a 5th grader, and the reaction he gets will surprise even him.

This parable on looks and America is surprisingly mundane in its approa More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 20, 2012

Kelli rated it:

I was intrigued by the concept of this book- a boy named August with a "facial anomaly", who had been
homeschooled up to the fifth grade goes to middle school.
Yes, middle school- the hardest time for most children. I'm sure I've blocked most of it.
We learn a lot about Auggie and how he has had to deal with looks, remarks, people seeming to be afraid
of him because of how we looks. What kept me reading this book was that it wasn't just told from the
main ch More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

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