In Wonder, August Pullman (Auggie), a boy with facial disfigurement, starts fifth grade (Year 6) at Beecher Prep Middle School in New York City. August meets Jack Will on his first visit to the school, and they get on well. However, Julian Albans teases Auggie and makes fun of him, while being nice to him in front of adults. Things come to a head on Halloween, when August hears Jack and Julian with a few others talking about his face. At the end of the year, on a trip, August is picked on by older boys, but Jack and some other boys, previously Julian’s friends, come to his rescue. And as they say, all’s well that ends well. The story is about August’s journey through the first year of middle school, making friends and enemies. The book covers from the first term of school to graduation day. The book shows that although August does not look normal, he goes through life mostly like every other child. The opening of the story shows an insight to August’s world, as he explains he may not look normal, but inside he is completely like everyone else. The events of the story followed on in chronological order, with one or two flashbacks at the beginning. It flowed smoothly, and each chapter ended in a way that made you want to read the next.
The main characters in this book are August and his friends and family (Via, Mum, Dad, Jack and Summer). At the beginning, August is quite dependent on his family, and was a recluse and rarely went out. However, at the end, August is a lot more independent. Most of the characters learn an important lesson: Jack and Summer (August’s best friends) learn not to judge a book by its cover, Via (August’s sister) learns that it is alright to want to know people without them knowing August, and August’s parents learn not to keep him from the outside world. August is described in detail by Via, ‘His eyes are about an inch below where they should be on his face,’ ‘He doesn’t have eyebrows or eyelashes,’ ‘He doesn’t have cheekbones.’ I thought Via was the most interesting character because I could empathise with everything she said. Also, I felt sorry for her, having to grow up faster than everyone else because her parents needed to focus on August. As the story develops, she quite enjoys high school, where there were not many people who knew her, and, therefore, knew August. She gets a boyfriend, called Justin, but does not have many friends. Her two best friends from middle school, Miranda and Ella, abandon her and do everything together.
This book is written in first person, and moves between narrators every few chapters. This is important because you can see someone’s actions with another person’s viewpoint, and see someone else and what they thought of it. Sometimes the setting was described in detail, like in the school, and sometimes it was not. Feelings were described in detail sometimes, too, although sometimes it was not. I think this was a good story, as it was interesting to read, and taught you that even the most unusual people can be just like you on the inside. My favourite moment in the story is when, on a trip, August is bullied but lot of people in his year come to the rescue, because it is the moment that August finds out that people do like him. I do not think there was anything that could be improved.
I think the author had a reason to tell this story because it is a true story and it teaches children to be tolerant. During reading it, I felt intrigued to know more and live in the story. After reading it, I felt saddened I had reached the end, and I did not want it to end. I also felt like I had changed, because while reading the book, I laughed when August laughed, and cried when he cried. It was like August had become a part of me. I would recommend this book to children or adults because it makes you look at what you have in life and be proud and grateful for it. I would read other books by this author.
No comments:
Post a Comment