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cocoonofbooks 's review for:
Wonder
by R.J. Palacio
This was a fast and engrossing read about a young boy with so many craniofacial anomalies that he attracts a lot of stares and few friends. He starts middle school after being homeschooled through fourth grade (I don't understand why this middle school starts with fifth grade and then has a graduation ceremony for every grade, but anyway), and undergoes bullying and finding out that one of his friends might not be who he thought he was.
I felt that Palacio added a lot of elements of realism to the story, from describing how August observes the way people react to him (when they're trying not to react) and how they stare (when they think he's not looking) to giving the perspective of his sister Olivia, who's always been overshadowed by his medical and emotional needs, to sharing the thoughts and mistakes of his school friends as they learn to navigate the consequences of choosing to befriend him. I liked the multiple perspectives for the breadth it gave to the story, even if it meant we didn't get to go as deep with any one character. This book is also a good opportunity for middle grade students to think about and discuss a topic that's often not addressed in books for their age level — or most age levels.
What kept it from being a 5-star book for me was that the author lets us see, from Olivia's perspective, how August is emotionally immature and overly reliant on his mother for comfort and support, and then... that never really changes. Even after August has supposedly learned so much, he's still demanding grilled cheese and specially made chocolate milk from his mother and there's not much indication that his mother has learned anything either about not enabling his dependence on her. And, of course, there's the "inspiration porn" aspect ofAugust being given an award for courage , although I think that's fairly true to life and is nicely counteracted by August's commentary that he would really rather be seen as ordinary.
Definitely worth a read.
I felt that Palacio added a lot of elements of realism to the story, from describing how August observes the way people react to him (when they're trying not to react) and how they stare (when they think he's not looking) to giving the perspective of his sister Olivia, who's always been overshadowed by his medical and emotional needs, to sharing the thoughts and mistakes of his school friends as they learn to navigate the consequences of choosing to befriend him. I liked the multiple perspectives for the breadth it gave to the story, even if it meant we didn't get to go as deep with any one character. This book is also a good opportunity for middle grade students to think about and discuss a topic that's often not addressed in books for their age level — or most age levels.
What kept it from being a 5-star book for me was that the author lets us see, from Olivia's perspective, how August is emotionally immature and overly reliant on his mother for comfort and support, and then... that never really changes. Even after August has supposedly learned so much, he's still demanding grilled cheese and specially made chocolate milk from his mother and there's not much indication that his mother has learned anything either about not enabling his dependence on her. And, of course, there's the "inspiration porn" aspect of
Definitely worth a read.