I always
read the Friday and Saturday Wall Street Journal editions because they include
numerous cultural opinion pieces as well as travel advice and recipes from renowned
chefs. In this one edition there was a
two page article on See Grown-ups Read. It
concerned the new phenomenon of adults reading books targeted to pre-teens and
teens i.e. The Twilight series as well as Hunger Games. One of the books mentioned was Wonder
which was published in Feb. of 2012. So
I decided to “satisfy my curiosity” by reading the book. It was meant to be read by 8-12 year
olds. No matter. This book is so well written it can give an
adult leaky eyes. The novel is centered around
10 year old August Pullman, an ordinary boy, according to August (Auggie). He plays X-box, rides a bike, eats ice cream
and has a wonderfully loving family. The
thing is Auggie is not an ordinary boy.
Auggie has a horrible facial disfigurement and has undergone 27
reconstructive surgeries. He tells us
that, “I won’t describe what I look like.
Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” The author does tell us about Auggie’s craniofacial
abnormalities via his sister, Via, and his other schoolmates. He has “a mushed up face”, he “eats like a
tortoise”, and he has cheeks “that looked punched in”. Read more... 
Auggie has
been home schooled until one day his Mom proposes he go to a private middle
school close to their home. Naturally,
at first, he doesn't want to go. He has experienced
too many insensitive people talking behind their hands or staring in shock. He says, “I wish every day could be
Halloween. We could all wear masks all
of the time. Then we could walk around
and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the
masks.” What Palacio does is make Auggie a wonderfully
strong and enduring character. He’s
smart, he’s funny and courageous. Even
though his father believes that Auggie’s going to school will be like “a lamb
to the slaughter”, Auggie perseveres.
Like many kids, he is bullied. There
are many injustices perpetuated against Auggie by older, bigger students. But he
eventually is surrounded by a cadre of students that watch out for his
well being.
The story is
told from a variety of points of view.
Other than Auggie’s chapters, pay attention to those of his sister,
Via. Via loves her brother. But as she gets older, she realizes that her
brother is the sun and the rest of the family orbits around him, “We circle
around him like he’s still the baby he used to be.” She wrestles with her resentment, guilt and
concern. She doesn’t want the kids at
her new high school to know Auggie is her brother because she wants to be known
as Via and not as the sister to ET.
This is the
kind of book you can read aloud with your kids.
Do a mini book club with them. They
will learn a great deal about kindness.
As a teacher in the novel says, “Be kinder than is necessary. Because it’s not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed.” We all could use a refresher course on that
item.
Other books
recommended for the 8-80 crowd…Flora and Ulysses by Kate
DiCamillo, Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool, Counting
by 7’s by Holly Goldberg Sloan, and Out of My Mind
by Sharon Draper.
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