Wonder

My neighbor who is currently a student teacher in a 3rd/4th grade split class recommended this book to me. When I first started reading this book I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. I felt really bad for the main character, August. He was born looking different than most people, and most people were scared just from his appearance. Despite the fact that he was ridiculed by others at school, it didn’t stop him from liking school. This made me feel really sad and I found myself having a lot of compassion for August. As I kept on reading I began to realize that this really is a good book! There are so many lessons to be learned. One of the biggest lessons in this novel is: we are who we are. It is easy to look at others and place judgment on them without really getting to know them, but it is important to realize that we are all different and if we all looked the same, the world would be a pretty boring place. I admire August’s mind-set and how he didn’t let his outward appearance control his life because it was something that he couldn’t control. This shows how strong of a character he truly is and how he doesn't let others get in the way of his happiness. I also really like how this book is set up because there are different narrators throughout the book. As the reader, you get to see other characters and their perspective of what is going on throughout the story, I thought this was a creative idea and it helps to bring different perspectives to the storyline. I feel the authors purpose was to create a character like August to show how strong a person can be even though the easy solution is to give up.  This is a book that I feel any young adult should read, because the underlying theme is a valuable one … it is important to realize that we are all different and we need accept people for their inner qualities rather than their outward appearance.

Palacio, R. J. Wonder. Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print.