“I know I’m not an ordinary ten-year-old kid.”
R. J. Palacio, Wonder, 2012
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Entering 5th grade has never been this daunting. August Pullman, a boy born with severe facial abnormalities and who was never expected to survive, has been homeschooled up until the moment his parents ask him if he’s ready to transition to a classroom to be with the other children his age at Beecher Prep in Manhattan. Reluctant but willing, August begins one of the most tumultuous years of his already remarkable life.
Whether we are traveling through the chapters narrated by Via, August’s older sister, as she understudies in her role for the play “Our Town”; Jack Will, a fellow student at Beecher Prep, who absentmindedly causes one of the worst days of August’s life ; or Star Wars loving August as he tries to adjust to a place where people are so frightened by his appearance that they react in shock when they see him; we learn that the inner world of an individual can vastly contrast from the impression they form on others, and that appreciating someone on their own terms creates opportunities for quiet transformation in ourselves.
“Wonder” has a quality much like the film “Babe” — a sincere, cynicism-free story which never once devolves into inauthentic moralizing or schmaltz.
The words “choose kind” are embossed underneath the dust cover on the hardback edition. This simple maxim encapsulates the lasting impression left by this exceptional book for young adults.