Wonder | The Best Character Development I Have Seen In Middle Grade | Book Review

Title: Wonder

Author: R.J. Palacio

Publisher: Corgi Childrens

Number Of Pages: 410

My Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis

You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.

My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.

August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary – inside.

But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don’t get stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he’s being sent to a real school – and he’s dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted – but can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, underneath it all?

Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

My Review

This book has been on my TBR for such a long time. A few days ago I was talking to a friend about how much I wanted to read it and she offered to give me her copy! Within the space of 24 hours I read this book from cover to cover. I must admit there were tears… but only of happiness! I didn’t look into the context much before reading. All I was aware of was that the main character was called August and he had a facial deformity. Throughout the book I did discover the different perspectives which was really interesting. It’s really odd how one-sided a book can get without having the perspective of the ‘so-called’ bad guy.

The overall book was a pleasure to read. The growth of the characters from the start to the finish was really beautiful. Though the book’s main focus was on character development, the plot was also interesting! It’s really hard to express my love for this book without giving spoilers. You really need to read it and then we can chat about it in the comments! The morals of this story are really important: even you don’t think that you need a reminder.