Wonder

Book: Wonder 

Author / Illustrator: R.J. Palacio 

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Special Needs
Major Awards: Bluebonnet Award
Age Group: 3rd - 7th 

Summary: 

August, also known as Auggie, is a 10 year old boy who has a facial deformity. He constantly gets stared at by people who pass by him even if he acts like any other typical kid. Auggie goes to a real school for the first time and has to interact with other classmates, some who become friends with him and some bully or tease him. He didn't want to go to school at first but, after much convincing, he thought he could try it out. The first couple months of school was hard for Auggie as he got teased, looked at, and called contagious that nobody wanted to be around him or even touch him. Throughout it all, he still managed to make friends with Jack, one of his tour guides, and Summer, who sits with him at lunch. On halloween, Auggie overhears Jack telling Julian that he doesn't "really like Auggie as a friend" and that makes him upset, making them ex-friends. However, once we switch to Via (Auggie's sister), Justin (Her boyfriend), Miranda (Her ex-best friend), Summer, and Jack's point of view, we find out the truth of how they feel about Auggie and their relationship with him. By the time fifth grade ends, most of the people become friends with Auggie and he is now the popular kid in the fifth grade. At the end during graduation, Auggie receives a special award, called the Henry Ward Beecher Award, recognizing his growth, courage, and bravery as the new kid. All of his friends in the audience clapped for him while he walked to get his award.    

Evaluation & Comments: I have heard that there was a movie version and seen the book cover, but I have never picked up the book. I was interested in seeing what this book was about, so I am glad I read it in this class. When I reading and finishing the book, I had moments where I realized that Auggie, a young boy, was struggling in a world who saw him as strange ever since he came out at birth. Everybody stares at him and saw him as a monster or contagious, even though on the inside, he was just a normal boy. Auggie knows everything that is happening in the world, but chooses to ignore it and deal with the harships that happen in his life. I love that throughout the book, there were people who stood up for Auggie when he went to middle school for the first time, even though he didn't look like the others. 

I would have my students watch the movie version of the book after reading the book. Then, we could do a comparison to see what they noticed between the two and make a chart. For an activity, there could be a lesson about kindness towards everyone. The students could answer what they think kindness looks like and create a chart of everything, or most of, what everyone says. Another idea could be to have students create their own precept. There was a teacher in the book who had a new class precept every month, taught it to them, and had the students create their own when the semester was over.