Comments on: Wonder

By: D. Moore

D. Moore — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 06:29:50 +0000

Amazing Story! You will tear up and Cheer! August has a face like nothing anyone has ever seen. Like a screaming and running away kind of face. He has accepted that this is the face he has. Now he has to figure out how to cope with a world that has never seen a face like his. He has been homeschooled his whole life and now for 5th grade, his parents want him to go to school. A regular school. With kids who don't know him. Kids who have never seen him. For fifth grade. I know I have always thought that 5th grade is the hardest school year of anyone's life, much less, someone like August.As we watch him and his classmates grow it is gratifying that none of them are as cruel and heartless as we all know modern children can be. You will tear up and stand up and cheer as you follow along with the life of August, his friends, his sister, her friends and how everyone is affected by what happens in August's life. Yes, everyone deserves a standing ovation, at least once in their lives

By: thehydrogenpoptart

thehydrogenpoptart — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 06:11:09 +0000

I /wanted/ to give it a better rating… …but I couldn’t. Here, I’ll explain why.First Sentence: I know I’m not an ordinary ten-year-old kid.How I Acquired the Book: Borrowed from my town’s library.The Review: When I first read the synopsis of this book, my thoughts instantly turned to a friend of mine who had a facial anomaly, just like the main character, August, in this book. So I was excited to read it, to get a glimpse of what my friend’s life could be like.In that aspect, it did not disappoint. Auggie’s voice is brilliant, and you can tell R.J. Palacio definitely spends a lot of time around kids. Auggie sounds just like my friend when he was in fifth grade, and is highly believable. It is this that makes the book so heartwarming and realistic. A book full of Auggie would be great.But this book is /not/ entirely full of Auggie. The first and last 80 pages or so of it are AMAZING, definitely the best parts, because they’re told from Auggie’s point of view. But the rest of the book is told from different characters’ points of view, like Auggie’s friends and family. This just does not work. Each character gets 20 to 50 pages, and as I just was getting used to and liking their voice, BAM, the point of view changed again. In the middle of the book I found myself scanning the book to get to Auggie’s part more quickly. Not only that, but the plot is lost in these parts, and these supporting characters are not well-developed.That said, I completely respect and admire Ms. Palacio for doing something so ambitious. It may have not been the best it could be, but Wonder has absolutely raised my awareness and sympathy of people like Auggie. While this novel doesn’t deserve a standing ovation, I will be waiting to see if Ms. Palacio’s next novel deserves one.-reviewed by a teenager. (I apologize for any teenagery and/or snarky comments in this review, if they have offended you. I understand they can be very annoying, just like teenagers themselves. In any case, thanks for dealing with them and thanks for reading this review.)

By: Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 06:06:37 +0000

My son is like Auggie and this book is incredible. My 5th grader has craniofacial anomalies and I feel that this book could not have been better written. RJ Palacio caught Auggie’s voice so well and captured his challenges and strengths so beautifully that I still can’t believe that she doesn’t have a child who is living this life. I’m not going to try to summarize the story as many other reviewers have done that – I just want to talk about the emotional resonance of the work.The sheer truth of Auggie’s journey is what meant the most to me. There are so many small moments that struck me to the core – e.g. Auggie’s feelings about Halloween, the way Auggie has an easier time when his classmates understand that there’s more to him than his face, Auggie’s struggle to move past his need for coddling, even the food that Auggie eats. The most emotional moment for me came toward the end of the book when Auggie’s father tells him that he loves the way Auggie looks, because that it exactly how my husband and I feel about our son.I wish that everyone would read this book, because it will help them understand the humanity of my son and everyone like him.