Wonder

Anyone who knows me is aware of my interest in helping kids with special needs so it's not surprising that I chose to read Wonder by R. J. Palacio. This book is about a boy named Auggie who has always been home schooled because of his severe medical problems resulting from the birth defect that left him with facial deformities. But now he's about to enter fifth grade in a middle school and wonders if he'll survive.

It's difficult enough for anyone to cope with the social pressures of being a new kid in school, but people have always reacted uncomfortably when they see Auggie's unusual appearance, so dealing with that is far more difficult for him.

This book portrays Auggie and his classmates in realistic ways and the author obviously understands them. I found it a bit disconcerting that the book suddenly switched points of view every few chapters, but I got used to that after a while.

This book kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen next and I enjoyed reading it. Many kids who read it will probably be inspired to accept people who are different from themselves, and to be kind to others.


Wonder really is a wonder.