Wonder
R.J. Palacio, 2012
Young adult PsychologyContemporary fiction
A boy with a facial difference starts school for the first time, and a whole community has to learn how to look at him. Told in a warm, often funny first-person voice, it moves between everyday school scenes and quiet moments of hurt and kindness.
Feels like tenderness, hope and wonder. About identity and family.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy school stories about friendship, family, and learning to see people more carefully. Some chapters hand the narration to other characters, so if you want only Auggie’s viewpoint, those stretches may feel like a detour.
Why read it
It offers a clear-eyed look at kindness and judgment through a child’s voice, and the questions it raises about how we see one another stay with you.
A page from the book
The wish is not to be beautiful, only to be unnoticed.
If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all. I would wish that I could walk down the street without people seeing me and then doing that look-away thing. Here’s what I think: the only reason I’m not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way. R.J. Palacio.Palacio has said the idea began with a chance sighting of a girl with a facial difference outside an ice cream shop, and with Natalie Merchant’s song 'Wonder'.
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Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Wonder for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy school stories about friendship, family, and learning to see people more carefully. Some chapters hand the narration to other characters, so if you want only Auggie’s viewpoint, those stretches may feel like a detour.
- What is Wonder like?
- Told in a warm, often funny first-person voice, it moves between everyday school scenes and quiet moments of hurt and kindness. Feels like tenderness, hope and wonder. About identity and family.
- What should I read after Wonder?
- If you liked Wonder, try To All the Boys I've Loved Before (Jenny Han), Heartstopper (Alice Oseman) and Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell).
A taste of the feed
The sister who decides things cleanly, and the one who can’t.
I wave a spoonful of cookie dough under Margot’s nose, and she hesitates and then opens her mouth. I feed it to her like a baby. “Wait and see, you and Josh will be back together in a day, maybe two.” But even as I’m saying it, I know it’s not true. Margot’s not the kind of girl to break up and get back together on a whim; once she’s decided something, that’s it. There’s no waffling, no regrets. It’s like she said: when she’s done, she’s just done.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before · Jenny Han
What you cannot know by looking, and what it costs to guess.
You can’t tell whether people are gay by what they look like. And gay or straight aren’t the only two options. Anyway, it’s very rude to speculate about people’s sexuality.
Heartstopper · Alice Oseman
How much of yourself you edit before pressing send.
Cath probably should have texted Abel by now, just to tell him that she’d made it—but she wanted to wait until she felt more breezy and nonchalant. You can’t take back texts. If you come off all moody and melancholy in a text, it just sits there in your phone, reminding you of what a drag you are.
Fangirl · Rainbow Rowell
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