Review: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

Goodreads

My thoughts: I have seen this book many times in bookstores and it's a recommended read for the fifth graders at my school. I've always said that I would pick it up and read it but I always pushed it to the bottom of the list. This year, a few of my students needed help understanding this book more for their activities. I felt terrible that I had no idea what the story was about. So I decided to finally pick it up and read it. And, I am glad that I did!

This was a wonderful book that dealt with bullying and with being true to one self. We had the main character who had a facial deformity since birth. Because of this and the 27+ surgeries he had, August was home schooled. However, his parents enrolled him to public school in fifth grade. Of course this meant a lot of change and dilemmas for August.  I loved how August stayed true to himself though he was bullied at school and ostracized by the majority of everybody at the school. I also enjoyed reading about August's close friends. They too had to find ways to be themselves, ignore the bullying, and be courageous to be August's friends. 

Another great thing about this book was it was told from different points of view. We had August, his sister Via, his friend Summer, his friend Jack, Via's friend Miranda, and Via's boyfriend Justin. At first I wondered why we were seeing certain character's point of views but afterward it all made sense. We got to see how the world view August from different perspectives. What I would have loved to have read was the bully's perspective. I wanted to know why Julian had so much hatred towards August. The book gave an inkling as to where the hatred stem from, but we did not get the full story. 

This book had many great moments and one sad one (don't get me started on the dog). I enjoyed reading the growth from the students and the main characters. I do admit though, the ending was a little cliche for me. Despite that, this was a great read and I'm glad this is a recommended book for 5th graders. I rate it: