Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

by
Sep 02, 2015  

Read in September, 2015

You can't blend in when you were born to stand out.

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

August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside.

But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

My Review:

I found the book to be wonderful. It's the first book in a series. The themes included bullying, peer pressure and showing kindness to all people, no matter what abnormalities they may have. The book was heartwarming and emotional. Get the tissues ready. It talked about the struggles that Auggie had to encounter with other children because of his deformed physical appearance. My heart went out to him as I was reading. I think all children and adults should read this book so they can see what it feels like to be bullied. I definitely liked the ending. It taught a good lesson.