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Wonder (Wonder, #1)

R.J. Palacio

Start date: July 1, 2017

Finish date: July 31, 2017

Discussion: Monthly Bonus Reads

Why we're reading this: July Bonus Read- International Day of Friendship
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What Members Thought

Aug 03, 2017 Krista the Krazy Kataloguer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-childrens-books, read-dorothy-canfield-fisher-award

Ok, I'll admit, I put off reading this one for a long time because...I didn't like the cover! What a stupid reason, right? But one of my online book groups was reading it for July, so I finally picked it up. And I loved it!! It was about so much more than a boy (Auggie) with craniofacial abnormalities adjusting to fifth grade/school for the first time. It was about bullying, and being kind, and forgiveness. The story is narrated by Auggie, the main character, and his sister and friends. Auggie i Ok, I'll admit, I put off reading this one for a long time because...I didn't like the cover! What a stupid reason, right? But one of my online book groups was reading it for July, so I finally picked it up. And I loved it!! It was about so much more than a boy (Auggie) with craniofacial abnormalities adjusting to fifth grade/school for the first time. It was about bullying, and being kind, and forgiveness. The story is narrated by Auggie, the main character, and his sister and friends. Auggie is such a likeable kid that he wins out over bullies and biases against him, and inspires others to be more accepting of those who are different. It seems as though every character, even the minor ones, learns something here. One of the teachers, Mr. Browne, gives his class a different "precept" to live by every month, and asks them over the summer to send him ones of their own. These precepts are all listed at the end of the book. Auggie's precept is a perfect summary of the book: "Everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their life because we all overcometh the world." (p.407).

Two years after this book was written, the author wrote an additional 94 pages from the viewpoint of Julian, the bully, who never expressed remorse for his behavior. It explained a lot about why he did what he did. When it got to the part where he is in Paris visiting his Grandmere, however, and she tells him her Holocaust story, it felt like I was reading another book, even though the information fit in. I'm glad she wrote it, but it's too bad it couldn't have been written at the same time as the rest of the book and worked into the narrative.

Palacios provides a list of web sites on craniofacial abnormalities and on bullying at the end of the book. I think this is the first children's book I've ever read about this kind of medical problem. I actually went online to some of the craniofacial web sites to see what birth abnormalities of this nature would look like, as it was difficult to picture Auggie's face. I can understand how seeing a child like this would be startling and even a bit scary for kids, but once they g0t used to it one would hope that they would learn to see the person behind the face, as Auggie's classmates eventually did.

By the way, Mr. Browne's May precept is my favorite and one I will try to live by from now on:

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as you ever can.
--John Wesley's Rule (p.406)

I can't recommend this book highly enough, for students, teachers, parents, and...everyone! ...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Melissa Rochelle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook, arc, read-2012, young-adult, middle-grade

If you read the Goodreads description, then you know Auggie isn't "normal". (And yes...I tried to imagine what he looked like: kind of like Sloth from Goonies but smaller.) He has a "previously unknown type of mandibulofacial dysostosis caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the TCOF1 gene complicated by a hemifacial microsomia" (Google it). Because of his need to have MANY surgeries to fix some of the problems associated with his rare problem, Auggie has never gone to a real school.

If yo ...more

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Dec 27, 2016 P rated it it was amazing

The Title says it all. This book is indeed a WONDER! I read it almost all in one sitting and the whole time either i got a bit teary eyed or left a huge smile on my face. The ending was one of my favorites of all time. And maybe without meaning to, it gives us such wonderful lessons. Don't just be kind, be kinder. ...more

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Feb 03, 2014 Susanne rated it really liked it

3-1/2 stars

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Nov 30, 2017 Alisha Marie rated it liked it

Shelves: tearjerkers, books-i-own-that-i-ve-read, children-s-books, swoon-worthy-cover, read-in-2017

I first heard of Wonder through my younger sister. She is not a reader at all and has often told me that she hates to read (and yes, this kills me just a bit). She pretty much only reads school assigned books. So, a few years ago, she came home raving about this book called Wonder that was so awesome that I just had to read it. Unfortunately, this happened during a time where I was not into middle grade books at all and so it went on the back-burner. Cut to a few days ago when my older sister me I first heard of Wonder through my younger sister. She is not a reader at all and has often told me that she hates to read (and yes, this kills me just a bit). She pretty much only reads school assigned books. So, a few years ago, she came home raving about this book called Wonder that was so awesome that I just had to read it. Unfortunately, this happened during a time where I was not into middle grade books at all and so it went on the back-burner. Cut to a few days ago when my older sister mentions that she wants to see Wonder and that we should go this weekend. So, I decided to order this on Amazon and finally received it today. And finished it today. And I have to say that I really did like Wonder...but I didn't love it.

The Good: It's impossible not to love Auggie. He was an incredibly sweet, funny, heart-wrenching, heart-warming, and an overall amazing main character. He pretty much made the story. I also really loved the family dynamics particularly the somewhat angsty ones between Auggie and Via and Via and her mom. I absolutely adored the friendships between Auggie, Jack, and Summer and that was also a major part of my enjoyment of Wonder. Another interesting thing to note is that Wonder has multiple POVs. As someone who tends to dislike multiple POVs more often than not, I thought that the ones here weren't too bad. For the most part, those characters who had POVs in the book were an actual major part of the book. Seeing as how my main gripe with multiple POVs tends to be giving a voice to a character that's not that important in the overall scheme of things, this book didn't really disappoint with that.

The Eh: I mention multiple POVs and how, for the most part, they were done well. Well, the one point of contention I had with the multiple POVs was giving Justin a voice in it. That was sort of "one of these things is not like the other" since he was not a major part of the story nor was he a major part of Auggie's life. I mean, as Via's crush, sure, he should be in the book, but to actually give him his own chapter was a bit much. Especially since you meet him like a third of the way into the book and then, all of a sudden, he has a chapter. It's not like he's been a side character throughout the whole novel and was then given a point of view. Nope. He wasn't there for most of it. Suddenly he was. And then suddenly there was his chapter. I feel like that narration could have been given to one of Auggie's parents or even one of Auggie's teachers.

More Eh: This book was really sweet. And I can take a really sweet book. However, this book was a little too sweet in that it rang very unrealistic for me. I really can't go too into this without giving out spoilers, so I'll just say that the sweetness was a bit too saccharine for me and I would have loved if it had a bit more grit and realism attached.

TL;DR: I did enjoy Wonder. It was an incredibly quick, heart-wrenching, and heartwarming read. I just expected more from it. I also felt like it was too sweet and I'm not a big fan of that in books, particularly if it rings slightly untrue. However, I am a HUGE fan of saccharine movies. So, I'm about 99% sure that I'll love the film version of Wonder. Will update when I watch it. ...more

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