August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.
- August was a ten-year-old boy who was very loved by his family. He was born with a facial deformity and had undergone multiple surgeries at a young age, and he was homeschooled… until his parents wanted him to start fifth grade. I fell in love with August’s character right away. He was quirky and also very funny. Although he was quite self-conscious about his appearance, he didn’t let it define him.
- It was an emotional rollercoaster of a book! I felt August’s pain as he struggled to fit in and navigate the complexities of middle school. At the same time, I loved watching August triumph as he made friends and found his people.
- Wonder is told through multiple POVs, including August, his friend Jack Will, his sister Via and Via’s boyfriend, Justin. I loved that each of the characters had their own unique voice.
- In fact there were no characters that I 100% disliked in this novel. Some of the “unlikeable” characters turned out to be my favourites (no spoilers) once I began to understand why they did what they did. I liked that the ultimate message of this book was that everyone had their own stories and went through difficulties in their lives.
- This book was such a tearjerker! (Though not in a bad way.)
- Being a Middle Grade book, this was a pretty straightforward read with fairly simple language. That being said, it was also quite an emotional book so it took me longer than expected to digest. (Again, not in a bad way.)
- Sometimes August seemed passive in this book. Without mentioning specifics, things would happen to him and he would respond to it. I would’ve wanted to see him being a bit more proactive.
- There was one event towards the second half of the book that I thought felt random and seemed to conveniently happen to move the plot along, that wasn’t too relevant to the remainder of the story.
4/5 fishies!
Wonder was an emotional and heartwarming book about friendship, family and self-acceptance. Definitely recommended if you like a heartfelt contemporary novel!
Have you read this book or watched the movie? What are your thoughts?
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
SOPHIE LI 
Leave a Reply