Wonder (R.J. Palacio novel)
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| Author | R. J. Palacio |
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| Cover artist | Tad Carpenter |
| Language | English, Spanish, Catalan, Japanese, German, Hebrew, Portuguese, Danish, Serbian, Arabic |
| Subject |
Prejudice Self-acceptance Middle school Friendship Pet death Bullying |
| Genre |
Children's novel Fiction |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
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Publication date
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February 14, 2012 |
| Pages | 315 |
| Awards | Maine Student Book Award Vermont's Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Mark Twain Award Hawaii's Nene Award Junior Young Reader's Choice Award |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 726819876 |
Wonder is a children's novel by Raquel Jaramillo, under the pen name of R. J. Palacio, published on February 14, 2012.
Palacio wrote Wonder after an incident where she and her three-year-old son were waiting in line to buy ice cream. Her son noticed a girl with facial birth defects. Fearing he would react badly, Palacio attempted to remove her son from the situation so as not to upset the girl or her family but ended up worsening the situation. Natalie Merchant's song "Wonder" made her realise that the incident could teach society a valuable lesson. Palacio was inspired by Merchant's lyrics and she began writing. The book has a released spin-off, 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts. In August 2015, the book Auggie and Me was published. A film adaptation is set for release in 2017.
August "Auggie" Pullman is a 10-year-old living in the fictional neighbourhood of North River Heights in upper Manhattan. He has a rare medical facial deformity, which he refers to as "mandibulofacial dysostosis", more commonly known as Treacher Collins syndrome and a cleft palate. Due to numerous surgeries, Auggie had been home-schooled by his mother, but his parents decide to enroll him in Beecher Prep, a private school, for the start of middle school in the fall.
Auggie visits Beecher with his mother and meets the school director Mr Tushman, along with three students: Jack Will, Julian Albans, and Charlotte Cody. Although extremely self-conscious and scared of being around kids his own age, Auggie gradually gets used to school. He befriends Jack and Charlotte as well as a girl named Summer Dawson, who sat with him during lunch when everyone else wouldn't. Julian, however, barely conceals his disgust at Auggie's appearance, avoids him and often makes hurtful remarks. He bullies Auggie and hates him for the way he looks.
During Halloween, when Auggie doesn't feel like wearing his Boba Fett costume because he didn't want to make his father even more late for work, he wears a "Bleeding Scream" costume instead, a robe with a mask that has fake blood oozing out. Unrecognised, he walks around school knowing he would not get bullied as his face is covered by the mask. When he reaches homeroom, he overhears Jack telling Julian he would "kill himself" if he looked like Auggie. Feeling hurt and betrayed by Jack, Auggie decides to quit school, but his older sister Olivia, known in the book as Via, convinces him not to. Auggie confides the incident to Summer and making her promise not to tell anyone about the issue. Jack notices that Auggie has become quiet and distant; he asks Summer why, and though she won't divulge the secret, she says "Bleeding Scream" as a hint. At first, he isn't aware that Auggie heard of what he said and believes that he's just avoiding him for no reason, so he starts avoiding him too. In December, however, Jack realises Auggie had overheard what he said and realises that he also heard that Jack was pretending to be friends with him, leaving Jack shocked. In science class, Auggie and Jack are partners for a project. When Julian asks the teacher if he could be Jack's partner instead, Jack declines. But when Julian calls Auggie a "freak," Jack punches Julian in the face in retaliation. As a result, Jack is suspended for two days for his actions. Knowing that Julian would get them both in trouble for bad-mouthing Auggie, Jack does not tell Mr Tushman what happened. Julian's mother says that Auggie does not belong in Beecher Prep, as it is not an "inclusion school", but Mr Tushman and everyone else disagrees with her. Jack sincerely apologises to Auggie, saying he didn't mean to say the stuff he said about him, and they become friends again.
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