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Book Summ
Auggie is a normal ten-year old boy who loves Star Wars, but he’s spent the last four years being homeschooled by his mother because of a rare genetic mutation that has severely deformed his face. Because of his deformity, Auggie hides from the world, away from people’s staring eyes. Now, he is getting ready to go to a public-school for the first time. His parents arrange a meeting with the principal who sets up a tour of the building and provides Auggie with some “buddies” who will be his future fifth grade classmates. Charlotte turns out to be a “do-gooder,” while Julian is a bully, who makes Julian’s life miserable once school begins. He even goes so far as to invent something called “The Plague,” where all the students avoid touching Auggie so they don’t get his “cooties.” Despite Julian’s unkindness, Auggie establishes a close friendship with one of the original “buddies,” a boy named Jack Will. On Halloween, their friendship is tested when Jack betrays Auggie by talking about him behind his back to Julian when he thinks Auggie isn’t around. Auggie is also befriended by a girl named Summer, who sits with him at the lunch table when no one else will. Summer eventually makes reconciliation between Jack and Auggie possible.
In the second section of the book, Via, Auggie’s older sister takes over the narrative. She describes her complicated feelings towards Auggie; she loves him, but she also resents his monopolization of her parents and everyone else’s attention. Via, short for Olivia, describes how she sees Auggie and gives a big sister’s perspective of the events Auggie has previously described. Via always felt close to her Gran because she felt like Gran actually saw her as more than just Auggie’s sister, and she was devastated when Gran died four years earlier. In her first year of high school, Via struggles with changing friendships, including the growing distance between her friends Miranda and Ella. She is particularly upset by Miranda, whose parents have gone through a divorce and who has completely transformed her appearance. She is upset to learn that Miranda is still communicating with Auggie even while avoiding her. Worried about why Auggie refuses to return to school after Halloween, she eventually talks him into opening up to her about the situation with Jack and advises him to hang tough and not let the other students have control over his own actions.
The third section of the book is narrated by Summer, the little girl who befriended Auggie at lunch. Unlike the other kids, Summer is unique because she chooses to associate and be friends with Auggie without any prompting from adults. She likes him for him. Summer describes the peer pressure and flak she gets from the other popular kids who question why she would want to hang out with the “Zombie Kid” all the time. When she invites Auggie over to her house, Auggie is surprised to learn that she is biracial and “different” like him. After Auggie confides in Summer about Jack’s betrayal, Jack approaches Summer and asks what is wrong. He does not realize Auggie heard him say anything bad, but he can tell Auggie is upset with him. Summer refuses to break Auggie’s confidence, but she wants the boys to resolve their misunderstandings, so she gives him a hint by describing the costume Auggie wore the day of Halloween.
Appropriately, the next section segues to Jack’s narrative. Jack relates how he originally wasn’t interested in being friends with Auggie and how Mr. Tushman set up the whole buddy system. He also explains why he changed his mind, and how he grew to love hanging out with Auggie because of his sense of fun and humor and the fact that they shared many of the same interests. He discovered Auggie was really normal on the inside. He is devastated and angry at himself once he unravels Summers hint about why Auggie is so angry with him. In science class, when Julian tries to force Jack into changing partners, Jack boils over and socks him the mouth. This results in disciplinary action and a suspension. During this time at home, Jack finally explains his actions to his mom, who encourages him to reach out to Auggie and apologize.
The story of their reunion is told through a series of “Letters, Emails, Facebook, and Texts.” This set of correspondence includes a revealing email from Julian’s mother, who feels the school should never have admitted Auggie. She later starts a campaign among parents to harass him into reversing his decision to admit Auggie to the school. After returning from his suspension and winter break, Jack and Summer realize that Julian and his mother have declared war on Auggie, and they draw up a list of who is on whose side.
In Section Five, we get an outside perspective and additional insight into Auggie and Via’s characters from the perspective of Via’s new boyfriend, Justin. He describes their preparations for the production of Our Town, in which Via’s former best friend, Miranda, also plays a leading role. Together they practice lines, and Via studies as Miranda’s understudy. He learns about the trouble brewing between the factions in Auggie’s school from Jack. He later defends Jack’s from three bullies hanging out in front of a bagel store. Justin is shocked to find out from Miranda that she was once best friends with Via, and he later confronts Via about her feelings for Miranda and why she kept their friendship a secret.
The remainder of the book is told once more through the eyes of Auggie, except for a brief interlude where the point of view shifts to Miranda and we learn about how and why she changed over the summer. When she spies Auggie in the crowd with his parents, Isabel and Nate, Miranda ultimately has an epiphany and refuses to go on the night of the play, giving Via her moment to shine. Via performs the role of Emily in her place and brings down the house.
Later that spring, the fifth graders all go away on an overnight trip to a nature preserve in Pennsylvania. Auggie is nervous because he has never really stayed away from home before. Leaving a screening of The Sound of Music to answer the call of nature, Jack and Auggie are accosted by a group of kids from another middle school who are also visiting the reserve. The gang of boys taunts and then attacks Auggie. Jack and several other students from Auggie’s school unite to defend him. They return to the movie, where none of the adults realize anything has happened. This causes a dramatic shift in the social dynamics. Amos, Miles, and Henry, three of the boys who came to Auggie’s defense, share the story and word spreads throughout the student body. Eventually, Mr. Tushman gets wind of it and questions him about the situation. An investigation ensues, during which Auggie refuses to describe his tormenters. Later Auggie’s mangled hearing aids are found in the locker of a boy named Eddie Johnson. From this moment forward, the “war” is over. Everyone feels protective of Auggie and sees him as one of them now. Auggie’s mom and Dad reward him with a surprise, a new little puppy named Bear. Auggie’s fifth grade year culminates in a graduation ceremony where Mr. Tushman gives a moving speech and Auggie poses for pictures with his friends. The story closes with Auggie thanking his mom for making him go to school.
APA Reference:
Palacio, R.J. (2012). Wonder. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Impressions:
This book caught me off guard. I expected a depressing story with a moralistic, cliché life lesson at the end, so I was pleasantly surprised at the shifts in point of view throughout the book. Palacio’s use of multiple perspectives, all telling essentially the same story, helps show how a community struggles to embrace people who are different, not just how Auggie deals with his own deformity. By extension, this allows us all to explore how we deal with this as society, which really takes the story to a much more complex and thematically rich level. Besides Auggie’s hilarious sense of humor, what I enjoyed most about Palacios’ writing is that she does not oversimplify the ethical problems the characters in the story face. I felt this was best communicated through Palacio’s complex and poignant characterization of Via, Auggie’s sister, who loves him, but also suffers in her own way to create an identity and value independent of her kid brother. We can also this in Jack’s betrayal of Auggie on Halloween, where he says awful things to Julian without thinking about the consequences. Readers learn with Jack through his experiences, and how he processes the consequences of his own actions. I also liked how she used the parents in the story to illustrate that adults can be just as cruel and unkind as their children. In fact, through the character of Julian and his mother, Palacio suggests that these types of behaviors and copying mechanisms are socially learned. Finally, the book is more than just a story about a boy with a deformity; its themes and conflicts resonate with everyone because it comments on many different aspects of the human condition, including fear, friendship, and confronting life’s challenges. Palacio deftly avoids turning the book into a moralistic tale by virtue of her commitment to emotional, situational, and social realism. She achieves this authenticity by creating characters with complex and varying motivations who grow and change over the course of the briskly paced plot. It is miraculous and wonderful how Palacios is able to communicate such amazing themes without sounding preachy. This book emphasizes that everyone, everyone, is going through something. Whether it is dealing with a different face or struggling with poverty or trying to fit in, everyone faces challenges. We never know what someone may be going through, so we should be kind to everyone because we are all facing life together. My only gripe with the book is that one point of view is conspicuously absent; we never hear the voice of the bully, Julian. I would have liked Palacios to explore what motivated Julian to be so cruel.
Professional Review:
Gr 4–7--Due to a rare genetic disorder, Auggie Pullman's head is malformed, his facial features are misshapen, and he has scars from corrective surgery. After much discussion and waffling, he and his parents decide it's time for him to go to a regular school for the fifth grade instead of being homeschooled. All his life Auggie has seen the shocked expressions and heard the whispers his appearance generates, and he has his coping strategies. He knows that except for how he looks, he's a normal kid. What he experiences is typical middle school--the good and the bad. Meanwhile, his beautiful sister is starting high school and having her own problems. She's finding that friendships change and, though it makes her feel guilty, she likes not being labeled as Auggie's sister. Multiple people tell this story, including Auggie, two of his new school friends, his sister, and his sister's former best friend. Palacio has an exceptional knack for writing realistic conversation and describing the thoughts and emotions of the characters. Everyone grows and develops as the story progresses, especially the middle school students. This is a fast read and would be a great discussion starter about love, support, and judging people on their appearance. A well-written, thought-provoking book.~By Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC
Reeder, N.P. (2012). [Review of the book Wonder, by R. Palacio]. School Library Journal, 58(2), 130. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Database. https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:9443/loginurl=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=71418101&scope=site
Library Uses:
I think this book provides a great starting point to start discussions about bullying and how words and actions can be hurtful, even when that is not the speaker’s intention. One successful library program might have students brainstorm a bunch of precepts, in the tradition of Auggie’s teacher Mr. Browne, who gives students a list of precepts, one for each month of the year. Students could come up with a list of school-wide precepts to help everyone be kinder to one another and to prevent bullying. Students could create colorful precepts posters which would be hung throughout the school. This type of program would probably be most effective if incorporated into a broader anti-bullying or bullying prevention, campaign. Students could even sign an anti-bullying pledge to show their support for the school precepts. This pledge could perhaps be a long banner displayed in a public area like the gym, a main foyer, or the cafeteria that students could sign publicly.
ary:
Auggie is a normal ten-year old boy who loves Star Wars, but he’s spent the last four years being homeschooled by his mother because of a rare genetic mutation that has severely deformed his face. Because of his deformity, Auggie hides from the world, away from people’s staring eyes. Now, he is getting ready to go to a public-school for the first time. His parents arrange a meeting with the principal who sets up a tour of the building and provides Auggie with some “buddies” who will be his future fifth grade classmates. Charlotte turns out to be a “do-gooder,” while Julian is a bully, who makes Julian’s life miserable once school begins. He even goes so far as to invent something called “The Plague,” where all the students avoid touching Auggie so they don’t get his “cooties.” Despite Julian’s unkindness, Auggie establishes a close friendship with one of the original “buddies,” a boy named Jack Will. On Halloween, their friendship is tested when Jack betrays Auggie by talking about him behind his back to Julian when he thinks Auggie isn’t around. Auggie is also befriended by a girl named Summer, who sits with him at the lunch table when no one else will. Summer eventually makes reconciliation between Jack and Auggie possible.
In the second section of the book, Via, Auggie’s older sister takes over the narrative. She describes her complicated feelings towards Auggie; she loves him, but she also resents his monopolization of her parents and everyone else’s attention. Via, short for Olivia, describes how she sees Auggie and gives a big sister’s perspective of the events Auggie has previously described. Via always felt close to her Gran because she felt like Gran actually saw her as more than just Auggie’s sister, and she was devastated when Gran died four years earlier. In her first year of high school, Via struggles with changing friendships, including the growing distance between her friends Miranda and Ella. She is particularly upset by Miranda, whose parents have gone through a divorce and who has completely transformed her appearance. She is upset to learn that Miranda is still communicating with Auggie even while avoiding her. Worried about why Auggie refuses to return to school after Halloween, she eventually talks him into opening up to her about the situation with Jack and advises him to hang tough and not let the other students have control over his own actions.
The third section of the book is narrated by Summer, the little girl who befriended Auggie at lunch. Unlike the other kids, Summer is unique because she chooses to associate and be friends with Auggie without any prompting from adults. She likes him for him. Summer describes the peer pressure and flak she gets from the other popular kids who question why she would want to hang out with the “Zombie Kid” all the time. When she invites Auggie over to her house, Auggie is surprised to learn that she is biracial and “different” like him. After Auggie confides in Summer about Jack’s betrayal, Jack approaches Summer and asks what is wrong. He does not realize Auggie heard him say anything bad, but he can tell Auggie is upset with him. Summer refuses to break Auggie’s confidence, but she wants the boys to resolve their misunderstandings, so she gives him a hint by describing the costume Auggie wore the day of Halloween.
Appropriately, the next section segues to Jack’s narrative. Jack relates how he originally wasn’t interested in being friends with Auggie and how Mr. Tushman set up the whole buddy system. He also explains why he changed his mind, and how he grew to love hanging out with Auggie because of his sense of fun and humor and the fact that they shared many of the same interests. He discovered Auggie was really normal on the inside. He is devastated and angry at himself once he unravels Summers hint about why Auggie is so angry with him. In science class, when Julian tries to force Jack into changing partners, Jack boils over and socks him the mouth. This results in disciplinary action and a suspension. During this time at home, Jack finally explains his actions to his mom, who encourages him to reach out to Auggie and apologize.
The story of their reunion is told through a series of “Letters, Emails, Facebook, and Texts.” This set of correspondence includes a revealing email from Julian’s mother, who feels the school should never have admitted Auggie. She later starts a campaign among parents to harass him into reversing his decision to admit Auggie to the school. After returning from his suspension and winter break, Jack and Summer realize that Julian and his mother have declared war on Auggie, and they draw up a list of who is on whose side.
In Section Five, we get an outside perspective and additional insight into Auggie and Via’s characters from the perspective of Via’s new boyfriend, Justin. He describes their preparations for the production of Our Town, in which Via’s former best friend, Miranda, also plays a leading role. Together they practice lines, and Via studies as Miranda’s understudy. He learns about the trouble brewing between the factions in Auggie’s school from Jack. He later defends Jack’s from three bullies hanging out in front of a bagel store. Justin is shocked to find out from Miranda that she was once best friends with Via, and he later confronts Via about her feelings for Miranda and why she kept their friendship a secret.
The remainder of the book is told once more through the eyes of Auggie, except for a brief interlude where the point of view shifts to Miranda and we learn about how and why she changed over the summer. When she spies Auggie in the crowd with his parents, Isabel and Nate, Miranda ultimately has an epiphany and refuses to go on the night of the play, giving Via her moment to shine. Via performs the role of Emily in her place and brings down the house.
Later that spring, the fifth graders all go away on an overnight trip to a nature preserve in Pennsylvania. Auggie is nervous because he has never really stayed away from home before. Leaving a screening of The Sound of Music to answer the call of nature, Jack and Auggie are accosted by a group of kids from another middle school who are also visiting the reserve. The gang of boys taunts and then attacks Auggie. Jack and several other students from Auggie’s school unite to defend him. They return to the movie, where none of the adults realize anything has happened. This causes a dramatic shift in the social dynamics. Amos, Miles, and Henry, three of the boys who came to Auggie’s defense, share the story and word spreads throughout the student body. Eventually, Mr. Tushman gets wind of it and questions him about the situation. An investigation ensues, during which Auggie refuses to describe his tormenters. Later Auggie’s mangled hearing aids are found in the locker of a boy named Eddie Johnson. From this moment forward, the “war” is over. Everyone feels protective of Auggie and sees him as one of them now. Auggie’s mom and Dad reward him with a surprise, a new little puppy named Bear. Auggie’s fifth grade year culminates in a graduation ceremony where Mr. Tushman gives a moving speech and Auggie poses for pictures with his friends. The story closes with Auggie thanking his mom for making him go to school.
APA Reference:
Palacio, R.J. (2012). Wonder. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Impressions:
This book caught me off guard. I expected a depressing story with a moralistic, cliché life lesson at the end, so I was pleasantly surprised at the shifts in point of view throughout the book. Palacio’s use of multiple perspectives, all telling essentially the same story, helps show how a community struggles to embrace people who are different, not just how Auggie deals with his own deformity. By extension, this allows us all to explore how we deal with this as society, which really takes the story to a much more complex and thematically rich level. Besides Auggie’s hilarious sense of humor, what I enjoyed most about Palacios’ writing is that she does not oversimplify the ethical problems the characters in the story face. I felt this was best communicated through Palacio’s complex and poignant characterization of Via, Auggie’s sister, who loves him, but also suffers in her own way to create an identity and value independent of her kid brother. We can also this in Jack’s betrayal of Auggie on Halloween, where he says awful things to Julian without thinking about the consequences. Readers learn with Jack through his experiences, and how he processes the consequences of his own actions. I also liked how she used the parents in the story to illustrate that adults can be just as cruel and unkind as their children. In fact, through the character of Julian and his mother, Palacio suggests that these types of behaviors and copying mechanisms are socially learned. Finally, the book is more than just a story about a boy with a deformity; its themes and conflicts resonate with everyone because it comments on many different aspects of the human condition, including fear, friendship, and confronting life’s challenges. Palacio deftly avoids turning the book into a moralistic tale by virtue of her commitment to emotional, situational, and social realism. She achieves this authenticity by creating characters with complex and varying motivations who grow and change over the course of the briskly paced plot. It is miraculous and wonderful how Palacios is able to communicate such amazing themes without sounding preachy. This book emphasizes that everyone, everyone, is going through something. Whether it is dealing with a different face or struggling with poverty or trying to fit in, everyone faces challenges. We never know what someone may be going through, so we should be kind to everyone because we are all facing life together. My only gripe with the book is that one point of view is conspicuously absent; we never hear the voice of the bully, Julian. I would have liked Palacios to explore what motivated Julian to be so cruel.
Professional Review:
Gr 4–7--Due to a rare genetic disorder, Auggie Pullman's head is malformed, his facial features are misshapen, and he has scars from corrective surgery. After much discussion and waffling, he and his parents decide it's time for him to go to a regular school for the fifth grade instead of being homeschooled. All his life Auggie has seen the shocked expressions and heard the whispers his appearance generates, and he has his coping strategies. He knows that except for how he looks, he's a normal kid. What he experiences is typical middle school--the good and the bad. Meanwhile, his beautiful sister is starting high school and having her own problems. She's finding that friendships change and, though it makes her feel guilty, she likes not being labeled as Auggie's sister. Multiple people tell this story, including Auggie, two of his new school friends, his sister, and his sister's former best friend. Palacio has an exceptional knack for writing realistic conversation and describing the thoughts and emotions of the characters. Everyone grows and develops as the story progresses, especially the middle school students. This is a fast read and would be a great discussion starter about love, support, and judging people on their appearance. A well-written, thought-provoking book.~By Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC
Reeder, N.P. (2012). [Review of the book Wonder, by R. Palacio]. School Library Journal, 58(2), 130. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Database. https://libproxy.library.unt.edu:9443/loginurl=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=71418101&scope=site
Library Uses:
I think this book provides a great starting point to start discussions about bullying and how words and actions can be hurtful, even when that is not the speaker’s intention. One successful library program might have students brainstorm a bunch of precepts, in the tradition of Auggie’s teacher Mr. Browne, who gives students a list of precepts, one for each month of the year. Students could come up with a list of school-wide precepts to help everyone be kinder to one another and to prevent bullying. Students could create colorful precepts posters which would be hung throughout the school. This type of program would probably be most effective if incorporated into a broader anti-bullying or bullying prevention, campaign. Students could even sign an anti-bullying pledge to show their support for the school precepts. This pledge could perhaps be a long banner displayed in a public area like the gym, a main foyer, or the cafeteria that students could sign publicly.