Book Bingo: Wonder

Wonder by R.J. Palacio is about a boy, August (Auggie) Pullman, with a facial deformity (more than one, technically) who is entering fifth grade this year at a private school. Up until the book starts, Auggie has been home-schooled, and the switch proves to be a crucial development in his changing life.

 

(picture taken from Goodreads;

cover art by Tad Carpenter)

Conclusion: This book was powerful, but not in the way I expected. Honestly, I thought there would be some severe violence or possibly even death as a result of Auggie's switch to a private school. Although now that I think about it, the book was written for middle grade kids, so it probably wasn't allowed to be too violent without being bumped to the YA section. Anyway, I preferred the book without gratuitous violence, although I would have to question the reality of that outcome a little bit if the story were true. Palacio switches the point-of-view from person to person every few chapters. This is where the fact that Wonder is R.J. Palacio's first published book comes the light, because the voice for each of her characters is very similar to every other voice. That being said, you barely notice the voice because Palacio does a fantastic job switching perspective (what each character knows and thinks about, for example). This book means something special to me without bringing me to tears, and it was a fast, easy read.

This is my final choice for the "TBR Pile" box in the 2014 Book Bingo Challenge! I'm probably going to come up with a new plan for this, because I'm having so much fun with it! I guess next year I'll know to set my goals higher from the beginning. Make sure to check back to see what I'm reading next and cross off boxes on book bingo with me!

Update 4/25/14: I forgot to mention that Wonder is a 2014/15 nominee for the Mark Twain Award. Already reading more nominees than last year!