A Review of Wonder by RJ Palacio

The YA novel Wonder, by RJ Palacio, is the story of August Pullman, an 11 year old boy who happens to have been born with a confluence of genetic abnormalities that result in his facial features being severely under- and incorrectly formed. Auggie is otherwise a normal child, he is not developmentally delayed; in fact, he's particularly intelligent and able to understand completely why other children run away screaming when he comes around. Auggie has been homeschooled his whole life until his parents decide to put him in an exclusive New York City prep- right into Middle school. As if life weren't difficult enough, he has to start at an age when school is the toughest socially. His father first argues against this, saying Auggie is like a "lamb to the slaughter", a phrase which Auggie looks up and fortuitously applies to his current situation. Auggie does go to school and makes friends. Summer and Jack Will are two children Auggie becomes closest to in the school and he falls in and out with them throughout the story. Most interestingly, the story is told from multiple viewpoints, all of them children, none of them the adults who appear regularly. The adults are not portrayed as impotent, clueless or overly-enthusiastic, which is refreshing. They are portrayed as caring and interested, for the most part. The change in perspectives gives the reader a real sense of how Auggie views himself, but also how others view him; it's not all pity, as the reader- and Auggie himself- might assume. Both Jack Will and Summer have their turn, again fortuitously, as they become central to the story and move back out again. Also, Via, Auggie's older, high school aged sister, has an opportunity to share. This is one of the more interesting views, as Via- who has always been Auggie's champion- begins high school and must struggle with changes of her own. Via's boyfriend Justin and her friend Miranda have their stories to tell as well. We see how difficult the lives of these other children are- Jack, Summer, Miranda and Justin, and we can understand that although Auggie may be unusual on the outside, he has a terrific home life- something that not everyone else has. The author did a fine job of not writing Auggie as someone to be pitied. In fact, it seemed that both Miranda and Justin were more pitiful as it were- families who seemed uninterested in them as people and who were never around. This book was trying to give several messages, and while they were clear, the author never clobbered the reader over the head with them. I also enjoyed Mr. Browne's precepts (a concept taught to his students; each month a famous precept was introduced and discussed). Mr. Browne encouraged his students to live by these ideals and to understand the meaning behind them. He also asked his students to write one of their own and mail it to him over the summer. These are included at the end of the book and give a nice closing to the story. In all, I found this book to be an uplifting read, one that teaches lessons, to be sure, but also one that makes the reader feel good. I would recommend this book to all readers.