Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Bibliography:
Palacio, R. J. (2012.). Wonder.
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House.
Summary:
This is a great book that teaches so much. It is tells of a boy
with a facial abnormality that causes him to
be laughed at and have trouble making friends. It was interesting how
it switched between different characters point of view to tell the story.
Impressions:
This is a great book for middle schoolers, high school and adults
alike. It has some eye opening and life changing concepts that need to be
shared.
Reviews:
Even though he'd like to think of himself as an
ordinary kid, Auggie Pullman knows he isn't. He has severe facial anomalies;
almost anyone seeing him for the first time visibly reacts. Auggie is starting
fifth grade at Beecher Prep, a huge change and challenge after being
homeschooled all his life. He makes friends with Jack and things seem to be
going okay until the day he overhears Jack talking about him. Auggie is crushed
by what Jack says. It's a devastating, unsettling moment followed by a shift in
point of view: Readers are suddenly thrust into life from the perspective of
Auggie's teenage sister, Via. Later Jack, struggling to find the courage and
the strength to be a good friend, and Summer, a girl comfortable with being
Auggie's friend and waiting for Auggie to fully trust her, become the voices
carrying the story. Via's boyfriend, and her estranged best friend, also become
tellers of this tale, which eventually comes full circle back to Auggie. The
multiple points of view are tremendously effective, giving remarkable depth and
range to Auggie's story over the course of his fifth-grade year while
developing characters whose own stories are intriguing. Auggie emerges as a boy
with faults and flaws like anyone, and if there's a bit of an
after-school-special quality to the book's ending, with Auggie winning over the
hearts and minds of so many, it is also an ending pitch-perfect for readers who
will benefit from having the values of tolerance and courage and friendship
clearly delineated in R. J. Palacio's surprising and affecting debut novel.
CCBC Category: Fiction for Children. 2012, Alfred A. Knopf, 315 pages, $15.99.
Ages 10-13.
REVIEWER: CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book
Center Choices, 2013).
ISBN: 9780375869020
Cooperative
Children's Book Center Choices, 2013 (2013). Retrieved August 04, 2014, from
http://www.clcd.com/features/th_school_days.php
Suggestions for Use:
This book can be used to teach about bullying and can have an
activity where students write something positive about each other each having a
paper on their back and students write their positive statements on that paper.
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