Wonder, by R.J. Palacio

            This story follows the journey of a young boy named August (or “Auggie”) as he enters school for the first time in fifth grade. However, he does not experience the typical transition that a homeschooler might have because he looks different than the other students due to birth defects. This adds extra challenges for his first year in middle school. However, August’s support system is solid at the beginning of the book and builds throughout the story to include his entire class. At first, August experiences verbal bullying from a few cruel students. The rest of the students stare at him relentlessly. Throughout the year, the dynamics of school change when he gains many new friends, and no one stares at him because they have come to know him. His family dynamics change too. His older sister begins high school which brings its own challenges, and the whole family experiences a shared loss. At the end of the book, August wins the Henry Ward Beecher medal for his grace under pressure and perseverance through hardship. When the principal announces that August is the winner of the award, the whole auditorium gives him a standing ovation. As he and his family make their way to his graduation party after the ceremony, his mother, amazed at August’s strength and resilience tells him that he “a wonder.” This book was selected for the Texas Bluebonnet Master List, Texas Lonestar Reading List, ALA Notable Children's Book, and many more honors and awards.

            I would love to use this book with a fifth grade English class. The overall message of acceptance, perseverance, and kindness is a timeless and ageless lesson. Additionally, the vocabulary and structure are geared towards students in this grade. The book is more suitable for upper-elementary students due to some of its mature themes as well. For instance, August experiences deep betrayal when he hears Jack, whom August thought was a dear friend, say to another student that he would commit suicide if he looked like August. This does teach an important lesson about the reality of the impact that students’ words have on one another. Therefore, this book would be incredible for studying a character trait of the month such as kindness or compassion and is grade-level appropriate conceptually and in readability.

            Wonder would be a fantastic book to use when teaching about point of view because the story is told from the point of view of August, his friends, his sister, and his sister’s boyfriend in the first person. This teaches students to see stories from all characters involved because they do not view everything the same. Students could then try to imagine other stories from multiple characters’ points of view even when it is not in the text. Imagining an event from another point of view helps build empathy and understanding, both of which are well developed in Wonder. Furthermore, each character has a unique voice in the text, so it is a good example for students developing their own voice and studying voice in literature.