The cover has a child with one eye. I wondered if the book was about a blind kid.
Name: Wonder
Author: R. J. Palacio
Format: Hardcopy
Number of pages: 315
Availability: Amazon (Buy the paperback here)
Rating: 4/5
Once I read the book, I did not wonder who or what ‘wonder’ was anymore. I knew exactly why the author titled her book, WONDER!
The language was good and easy to understand. An interesting word from this book was precept. I wonder if I should make one for each month of this year. Or am I just adding to the already long list of things to do?
This story is about how the life of a 10-year-old, with certain multi-facial abnormalities, changes during middle school. It was a wonder to see how that child navigated the year with so much maturity.
*It is a simple story about parents, children and middle school.
*It shows us how parents’ teamwork and involvement in their children’s lives make a huge difference in the child’s ability to handle themselves outside the comfort of their homes.
*It shows us how siblings love and protect each other no matter what.
*It reminds us parents that our little ones who have become older siblings also need our time every single day. Even if the younger one needs more attention.
*It shows how callous parents bring up children just like them.
*It gives us hope that goodness and empathy still exist in this world.
*It shows us how we can go astray due to peer pressure.
*It reminds us that kindness and bravery are important traits to possess right from childhood.
*It teaches us how we can attract good people by having a positive mindset.
*It makes us wonder if our ‘normal-faced’ children have such levels of maturity at this age.
Nothing needed improvement as such but I got distracted with a couple of things.
*I wondered why there was a constant repetition of ‘me and Jack’ instead of ‘Jack and I’. Perhaps, with the former, the author was trying to make the conversation more realistic from a 10-year-old’s view. But I think the latter could encourage young readers to speak English the right way.
*Also, I wondered why Justin’s narrative was written with small letters, even the starting letters of his sentences and proper nouns. Again, maybe the author was trying to show us how teenagers spoke or how limited his vocabulary was, but the right way would allow young readers to learn to frame their sentences correctly, don’t you think?
After all, we learn a lot by reading.
It was a bit difficult for me to dive into the book, given that it wasn’t a murder mystery or thriller, but I decided to go with an open mind (as my daughter’s school suggested we buy this book for our kids to read during the holidays). And, it did sell a million copies worldwide. Once I read it, I realized it was a wonderful story of how when you stand up for yourself, despite your fallbacks, people will eventually treat you well. This book is great for children though it would resonate with the young as well as the old.
Then, I wondered about the movie (Wonder, 2017, starring Julia Roberts) and decided to watch it soon with my kids because the story does send a lovely message out into the world.
Let me know your thoughts if you have read this book.
2 Comments
Using language correctly will definitely help young readers. But maybe writers prefer authenticity.
That’s what I was thinking.