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Wonder (Wonder, #1)

R.J. Palacio

Start date: July 1, 2017

Finish date: July 31, 2017

Discussion: Monthly Bonus Reads

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What Members Thought

Jul 30, 2017 Jeanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2017, read-women, ya

I didn't want to read R. J. Palacio's Wonder. I like YA books, but have exceeded my dose recently. Many YA books are pat, easy, and have clear views of right and wrong. While Wonder comes too close to this dangerous territory at points, it veers back and was ultimately more satisfying than I'd anticipated.

August Pullman has a “previously unknown type of mandibulofacial dysostosis caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the TCOF1 gene, which is located on chromosome 5, complicated by a hemif I didn't want to read R. J. Palacio's Wonder. I like YA books, but have exceeded my dose recently. Many YA books are pat, easy, and have clear views of right and wrong. While Wonder comes too close to this dangerous territory at points, it veers back and was ultimately more satisfying than I'd anticipated.

August Pullman has a “previously unknown type of mandibulofacial dysostosis caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the TCOF1 gene, which is located on chromosome 5, complicated by a hemifacial microsomia characteristic of OAV spectrum” (p. 104). As he said as introduction, “I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s
worse” (p. 3).

Wonder follows August through his 5th grade year. This was his first year in school, as August was both medically fragile and required numerous surgeries to get him to a place where he still scared and dumbfounded strangers.

Fifth grade. Not the easiest time for any of us, yet even more difficult for someone like August. He had a rough time: his peers pretended he had The Plague and avoided touching him, ostracized anyone who was friendly to him, and betrayed him in order to fit in. We've been there, done that, right? Through a combination of courage, kindness, friendship, character, and a lot of support from friends and family, he made it through this first difficult year.

I tend to mistrust books where the central character is damaged in some way, but exceptional in most others (e.g., The Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame). What if August had not been bright and ahead of most of his classmates in school? What if he hadn't had strong social skills and an exceptional support system? What if August really had been ordinary and like the rest of us? Would we have befriended and supported him?

Am I being unrealistic in my demands of this YA book?

There are several things that make this book work for adults – and also kids. Wonder is alternately told from the perspectives of six children and teens, providing a greater range of viewpoints than any one character might offer, including offering different understandings of their behavior than August and the others had initially drawn. Wonderwas told over the course of a school year, which allowed its characters to stumble, grow, and change. Adults are often invisible or damaged in YA fiction, but there are a large number of adults in this book who are smart, compassionate, and thoughtful. Perhaps the adults are often idealized, but there are also adults (and kids) who are self-absorbed and neglectful. In some cases their children pull through anyway, but in others...

I dislike tidy endings and Wonder has one. It has enough other strengths – likable characters, reasonable adults, perspective taking, growth in its characters, a good moral –that I was willing to like it anyway.
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9 likes · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2017 Kate rated it liked it

3.5/5

It's fine as a young adult book, but I certainly wouldn't say it's a must read. ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2017 Aura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: children, middle-grades

What an wonderful book! Auggie was born with a rare facial physical deformity that makes people react negatively when they first meet him. Other than that, Auggie is a normal kid who just want to do what kids do. When his mom decides that maybe it is a good idea to send him to school after sheltering him from people, Auggie agrees to take the difficult step and face a world who judges people by their appearance. I think this was a very enjoyable read and that has many lessons for middle grade ki ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 25, 2017 Martha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, read-2017, read-women-17, physical-disability

“Here’s what I think: the only reason I’m not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way.”

This is the story of August (Auggie) Pullman, a boy with rare facial abnormalities, as he starts school for the first time. It's a brutal crash course in how cruel children (and life) can be, but beautifully told. A quick, easy read for anyone who likes YA/Children's fiction and is looking for a story to fall in love with. ...more

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Oct 25, 2019 Michael rated it really liked it

What a beautiful story about finding yourself, friendship, adversity, love. Everyone should read this.
Emotions are up and down reading this. Happy and sad, then happy again!
“Kinder than is necessary. Because it's not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed.” ― R.J. Palacio, Wonder ...more

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