RJ Palacio’s novel called Wonder tells
a familiar tale of the ugly duckling.
August “Auggie” Pullman is the star of this story. Auggie is born with severe facial
deformities that nearly end his life.
Instead, for the first 10 years of his life we are told he is in and out
of the hospital recovering from various surgeries. By the time he turns 10, his family determines he is ready
to flee the nest and go to school.
Auggie
is enrolled in a private school in New York City and quickly finds himself at
odds with some students who choose to try and alienate him because of his
looks. While this is not new
territory to Auggie, the few friends he has are faced with deciding to either
supporting a friend or looking popular.
It is a
timeless story about self-importance and doing what is right in the face of
peer pressure.
The book
moves chronologically through the 5th grade school year, filled with
Halloween parties, science projects, choir concerts and even a two night
overnight trip to a nature center where troubles abounds again for Auggie and
his friends.
The
formulaic ending is sincere with few surprises. Yet the reader leaves the novel with a renewed sense of
choosing kindness.
CRAFT TECHNIQUE – The
author employs short sentence structure as the craft technique. In addition, the chapters are quite
short too. This makes for quick
reading.
The
story is written over the course of one school year and that makes the setting
easy to relate.
CONNECTION TO MN STANDARDS
This
novel could fit nicely into the sixth grade curriculum from a positive
transitions point of view. The
central theme of kindness and courage pervades this book.
6TH
GRADE -6.4.3.3 Describe how a particular story or drama’s plot unfolds in a
series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot
moves toward a resolution.
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