Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Summary: August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a condition that, not only kept him in and out of the hospital since he was born, but also made him look very different from everyone else. Auggie had always been home-schooled not because of he looked different but because he had not been healthy enough, but he is now. Auggie's parents were sending him to the fifth grade at Beecher Prep Academy Middle School. As Auggie began school, the other kids stared, they talked about him behind his back, gave him mean nicknames, and even played mean games about him. But luckily, August had his friends Summer and Jack. Summer and Jack also faced mean peers, who did not understand why they were friends with someone who looked so much different form everyone else and sometimes the peer pressure got to them. Auggie also had his sister Via who was starting high school at a new school. Via was always very understanding that Auggie had to be put first, even though that meant her parents couldn't go to her soccer games or help with her home work. But, Via didn't want to be put on the back burner anymore, and this causes her to push her family away. As Via starts high school, she finds that her best friends Miranda and Elle have changed their image and Via is left to find a new friend group. Through the school year we get to experience the halls of Beecher Prep and Via's new teenage life though the perspectives of Auggie, Summer, Jack, Via, Justin - Via's boyrfriend, and even Miranda. Through bullies, school trips, dating, and just a tough school year, in the end Auggie has won the hearts of everyone at Beecher Prep and the Pullman family is closer than ever.

In Reality: I fell in love with all the characters in this novel and I know that when introduced to a group of 4th and 6th graders, they would too! I would use Wonder in a Critical Thinking lesson, where students are taught that there is more to a story than just a story. For example, students could reflect on how they would react in situations the characters where in and why they would act that way or even think of their own precepts like Mr. Brown's class did from the book.