Wonder Book Review

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August or Auggie, was born with a facial deformity and had been homeschooled all his life, that is, until now. Auggie’s parents have told him that he’ll be going to a mainstream school. Auggie’s had his fair share of hardship already and it’s safe to say he’s nervous to join Beecher Prep, but he knows he’s just like all the other kids on the inside, so all he has to do is prove them to them…

Given that there’s a movie adaptation of this book, I’d seen a lot about it already, and knew that it was one a lot of people loved so I had high expectations. Going in, I think I was a little taken aback as it’s been a little while since I’d read a middle grade book so it took me a few chapters to get used to a child’s perspective. I also listened to some of it as an audiobook which made the child-like voice of the narrator even more obvious this was middle grade.

I also loved that Palacio mixed the perspectives up a bit and we got to hear from some of the other characters, in particular, I loved hearing from Auggie’s sister. Their relationship was great, but being a teenager she had her own problems to deal with and I enjoyed that we saw a little insight into her life too. This book obviously fights a lot of stereotypes but it’s more complicated than just ‘be kind’ – which it definitely communicated – but also we saw how Auggie was just a ‘normal’ kid, and by normal, I mean flawed, and learning, and inquisitive, just like any other little boy.

All in all there was so much love in Auggie’s family and not only was this a book about acceptance and identity, but also about kindness and the innocence of children, and frankly it had a lot to teach everyone who reads it. I will definitely be trying to watch the film soon!