Having Discussions of Bullying with Wonder by R.J. Palacio
All right; all right.
Apparently, the one word did not sum up the story as I thought it did. I always knew people wanted more.
Wonder is a wonder. It is phenomenal.
The premise of the story revolves around a little boy who starts fifth grade at a private middle school and his adjustment to a new school after being home-schooled his entire life.
However, though August views himself as an ordinary kid, others do not see that in him because he was born with an abnormal face that even after several surgeries throughout his childhood, people would still see his face and fear it.
It is a book about how August overcomes these cruel and unthoughtful words, but it is also a book about how those around him deal with how August looks. The author brilliantly incorporates eight different parts and most of which are told by a different character from their own perspective.
With this, August voices how he feels and thinks about himself, but yet his sister and his friends' voices also announce why they behave the way that they do around August or because of him.
This book deals with so many issues that children have to start facing as they grow into teenagers. With that in mind, this book is probably geared more toward an upper elementary child, especially since August is going into fifth grade.
Before I begin delving into the themes and discuss the many things that I adored about this book, I did have two things that stood out to me that I did not like.
In the part devoted to Justin, August's sister's boyfriend who plays the violin and performs in a play, no quotation marks or capital letters existed. I recognize that the author was probably trying to show this character as the artist that he portrays himself as, but I just found it annoying.
Perhaps it was just my English major self protesting, but I had a hard time following what was going on without the major cues of capital letters and quotation marks. I must say I am very grateful though that the author did not choose to also get rid of periods, commas, and question marks.
On a more serious note, I felt the author was also trying to bring in the topic of biracial children by having Summer, one of the girls who befriends August because she wants to be kind, be one.
This detail about her is only mentioned once and it is glossed over without really elaborating about it. I think this is a valuable theme to bring up especially in a book talking about how people view each other from the outward appearance.
Skin color is a huge way that people judge others. I thought the book had great potential to speak on this subject and address the erroneous preconceived notions about biracial children that they must face. However, as I mentioned before, the topic was introduced, as a way to touch on more themes, but sadly never mentioned again.
While that theme fell short of my expectations, the many other themes of the book were beautifully explored and developed.
Several of the themes included bullying, difficulties that arise with having someone like August in the family, friendship, and loneliness. However, so that I do not keep you here all day reading this one blog post, I chose two themes to elaborate.
One of the largest themes that plays throughout the novel is seeing someone's inner worth as opposed to just looking at the physical appearance. At one point August writes, "I wish every day could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all 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" (Palacio 73).
People make quick judgements about August because they think he looks like a "zombie" or an "orc." They think because he has an abnormal looking face that he is also mentally incapable.
However, August begins and ends the book wanting to let everyone know that he is just a normal fifth-grader.
Throughout the book, some people are able to see August for the smart and funny kid that he is and of course others are stuck in the rut of only looking on what they see.
Daisy, August's dog, looks at August as if he were any other human being. She loves to lick his face and does not mind that it looks different; she loves him for who he is.
Sadly, the people interacting with August on a daily bases take a much longer time to recognize this if they ever do. Daisy inspires.
Though this story is about a physical deformity, it can also be extended to those with any kind of handicap that results in being treated differently.
With the use of different perspectives throughout the story, the reader realizes the different reactions that people face when encountering someone who is different. August relates that most people do not know how to treat him and either pretend to ignore him or whisper and point or even scream in horror.
People who see someone who is different than they are whether mentally or physically different do not know how to interact with the person or do not realize that they can interact with them normally.
This summer I had the opportunity to interact with people with a brain injury at the camp I work at during the summer. I was astounded by how much they taught me during their brain injury camp; these people were funny, friendly, and smart, but each one was different with unique strengths and talents just like normal people.
One of the funniest guys at the camp had had such a severe injury that he could not walk or talk, but through his facial expressions and body language he could convey his meaning. Being around these people made me realize that there is more to them than their injury, just like the characters in Wonder must learn the same about August and his face.
This book certainly opens the world of diversity and perspective to the meaning of being different.
It also gives thought to what it means to be kind to someone. I would highly recommend this book to everyone (though I suspect younger children would not understand it) to truly understand how those who are judged by outward appearances really feel.
It is a fast read that I could not put down and faster still by the short two page long chapters. Try it out for yourself. I found myself saying just one more chapter...
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