Wonder

For those of us who love a good cry, I recently read R.J. Palacio’s "Wonder," which left me being one of the main consumers keeping Kleenex in business.

While the book centers on the emotional story of August, a boy with an indescribably severe facial deformity, what really brings the tears in Wonder is how beautifully Palacio depicts how Auggie’s condition affects those in his life. Palacio doesn’t shy away from the fact that as humans we have some nasty instincts; namely, flinching away from others who society would deem ugly. She also doesn’t make people feel bad for doing this. It’s only natural, and she describes it through the brutally honest thoughts of Auggie’s best friend, sister, even his sister’s boyfriend, among others. The way in which these characters divulge their nastiest feelings regarding this kindhearted boy doesn’t make you like them any less. Rather it helps you bond with them as you reflect on how you personally would react upon seeing such a person.

Ultimately it’s the “minor” characters who highlight the most amazing things about Auggie and why judging him on his deformed cover is the worst mistake you could make. Palacio’s writing just goes to show the wonder in all characters of a book, even the small ones.

I’m not sorry for the wonder pun :)

Wonder is the debut novel by R.J. Palacio, a former art director and book jacket designer. With more than twenty years in the publishing industry, Palacio always dreamt of writing a novel of her own.

After an encounter with a little girl, much like Auggie, at the park with her sons, the story of Wonder began to take form. She set out to write a book about empathy and tolerance. What evolved was an endearing tale of family, friendships, resiliency of the human spirit and the power of kindness.

Palacio’s graceful and witty prose takes readers on a journey of emotions, conjuring both tears and laughter. Auggie’s voyage from sheltered child to confident middle-schooler proves that being different isn’t a bad thing, it’s an opportunity to inspire.

Wonder quickly become of my favorite reads, not only of this year but of all times and it’s easy to see why. The narrative of this story can be kind of childish for some people since it’s very straight forward, doesn’t make very turns to make things more pretty and also this story has a lot of show and not tell which usually bothers the hell out of me, but I only noticed it 20% into the book! This really shows how effective this narrative was in make me get into the story and connect with these characters and their feelings.

About the characters, it was a surprise to me when I looked inside the book and saw there was different POV’s and at first I thought it would make hard to get to know anyone but really it wasn’t, like I said the narrative is very simple making the feelings and personalities of each of this narrators really get out of the pages – all of them are so realistic and still so different. I think the narrative I most connect with was Via’s, she really got me teared up at so much times.

Also, this book is a lot more positive than I first expected, I mean I knew that it would end on a lighter tone but still I’m a big crier so expected to have some sobbing moments but no, I cried but always just a little bit – the narrative often goes from sad to lighter and funny. What made these turns so easy were the very short chapters, not making them weird turns.

Anyway, I loved this book with all my soul, it carries an amazing message about bullying to kids, but I think adults/young adults also can get great things from this book. It’s an easy read, that really makes you think about people and the world around you and how you perceive it.

Recommended to: everyone really, it’s one of these books that I just want to push on everyone because I think every single people can take a message from it.