Wonder
R.J. Palacio. Knopf, $15.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-375-86902-0
Auggie Pullman was born with severe facial deformities—no outer ears, eyes in the wrong place, his skin "melted"—and he's learned to steel himself against the horrified reactions he produces in strangers. Now, after years of homeschooling, his parents have enrolled him in fifth grade. In short chapters told from various first-person perspectives, debut author Palacio sketches his challenging but triumphant year. Though he has some expectedly horrible experiences at school, Auggie has lucked out with the adults in his life—his parents love him unconditionally, and his principal and teachers value kindness over all other qualities. While one bully manages, temporarily, to turn most of Auggie's classmates against him (Auggie likens this to becoming the human equivalent of "the Cheese Touch," a clever Diary of a Wimpy Kid reference), good wins out. Few first novels pack more of a punch: it's a rare story with the power to open eyes—and hearts—to what it's like to be singled out for a difference you can't control, when all you want is to be just another face in the crowd. Ages 8–12. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group. (Feb.)
Details
Reviewed on: 02/20/2012
Release date: 02/01/2012
Genre: Children's
Compact Disc - 7 pages - 9781455844197
Library Binding - 315 pages - 9780375969027
Hardcover - 315 pages - 9780375869020
Paperback - 432 pages - 9789927101137
Hardcover - 420 pages - 9784593534951
Open Ebook - 416 pages - 9781448119141
Paperback - 320 pages - 9780857521231
Hardcover - 481 pages - 9781410457417
Hardcover - 351 pages - 9780385754323
Paperback - 320 pages - 9780375873065
Open Ebook - 237 pages - 9780375899881