Wonder by R.J. Palacio

(courtesy of amazon.com) Title: Wonder Authors: R.J. Palacio Lexile: 790L Genre: Realistic Fiction, Summary: August a boy with a severe facial malformation attends public school for the first time in his life. This novel documents his life in the first year at Beecher Middle School through several perspectives relating to to August. Join August through the highs and lows of the social landscape of school when you are someone who is very different! Selling Tool: Review, Wonder was a captivating book, I was especially impressed by Palacio’s use of perspectives to tell the story of Auggie and how his life affects those around him. As the writing changed perspective the story fleshed out more and more, and nuance in characters were created. One of my favorite character relationships was that of Via and her Grandmother, the story at the end of her section was incredibly poignant. In fact the strength of this book often comes from small vignettes of characters reflections, or prefects as Mr. Browne would probably see them, are striking and lasting. I would recommend this book, especially for the reflective moments mentioned above, but also for the reiteration of the age old expression of not judging a book by it’s cover. The only criticism I have is that the book often falls on predictable relationships, which perhaps is not a criticism of the book but of my desire for a book to break the mold of character studies. That being said, Auggies tale is told with great heart and offers a good example of how friendship and family can often weather the worst storms. Activities: The style the author chose to write in is worthy of a lesson or two, perhaps something in middle school english that describes how alternating perspectives can develop plot. Another idea would be to focus on the main theme of judgment in the book. The book focuses not only on how the characters judge Auggie for his appearance but also how they judge themselves because of their authentic thoughts on Auggie. The reflective thought of knowing your own character flaw is a powerful and sophisticated idea that could be incorporated into a lesson on personal growth. Longer stories, such as Wonderful, are excellent at identifying character flaws in a more nuanced ways. A hook into this discussion could come from the moment when Via see’s both her brother and his appearance and for a second is agonized by her own shame for reacting negatively to his appearance.