Reading: Wonder by RJ Palacio

“Kinder than is necessary. Because it's not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed.” - RJ Palacio

Title: Wonder

Author: RJ Palacio

Publisher: Knopf

Published: 2014

Rating: 4 stars

I have heard about this book for a while now. Moving to teaching fifth graders, I suddenly saw it as required reading. It's so hard to teach ten and eleven year olds about kindness in a way that will engage them and get them to listen. They're not interested in being lectured to.

This book, all about kindness and empathy, hit a home run. It is mostly told through the perspective of Auggie, a young boy with a facial deformity who suddenly finds himself in middle school after a lifetime of homeschooling. What I loved most, however, was the author's choice to switch points of view throughout the book so that we were able to learn about and empathize with so many different people. Our feelings about people changed when we suddenly read about events from their point of view.

The story is really well-written. It's emotional and funny and sweet. Characters in the story are complex, which is often missing from stories geared toward younger crowds. Because it is told in their points of view, the actual writing varies based on the character telling the story. It can be a little jarring, as a teacher, to read a chapter with lower case i's and no quotation marks around dialog, but oh well.

Having talked to some of my students who read it, they don't find it too preach-y. Kids can take something away from the story without feeling like it's forced on them. As an adult reading it, I also made some personal discoveries and began to wonder about myself and my capacity for empathy.

This story is a Wonder.

#middlegrade #books #nerd #youngadult