Wonder by R.J.Palacio
Wonder by R.J Palacio is a book about a child named August Pullman, Auggie for short. Auggie has a severe facial deformity that has prevented him from going to school for a long period of his life, therefore being homeschooled by his mother. But now Auggie is ready to go to 5th grade at a school called Beecher Prep. Auggie is nervous to go to school, and not only is it because he has been to school before, but also because he doesn’t know what the kids at his new school will think of him. Anyhow, Auggie took a tour that would introduce him to the school principal Mr. Tushman, and three kids from his homeroom; Jack, Charlotte and Julian. Right from the start, Auggie realized that Julian was not going to be easy to deal with for he indirectly kept saying unpleasant remarks about Auggie.
After the tour Auggie bravely accepted to face the challenge of going to school, despite the fact that he might face teasing under Julian’s wake. The book explains how Auggie feels while working on his challenge through the viewpoints of not just Auggie, but also his sister Olivia or “Via”, his friends Summer and Jack, his sister’s friend Miranda and his sister’s boyfriend Justin. The school year has ups and downs such as …
Examples we can live by:
1. Summer- Summer was compassionate because on the first day, she sat with Auggie at lunch and she didn’t have any difference about him just because of his facial deformity. Even after that she continued to be one of his best friends despite her old friends teasing her.
2. Jack- In the beginning Jack was motivated by Mr. Tushman to be friends with Auggie, but later he actually felt the urge to be friends with Auggie but his old group of friends, which included Julian, refused to keep quiet. They tried to get back at Jack, via the Halloween incident and the “war”. However, Jack was brave to face all this with courage and remained loyal to Auggie.
3. August- Auggie was tolerant because he bore the insults Julian heaped at him without revenge and he did not let it affect him. He continued to be on of the smartest kids in the grade.
Julian's Transformation:
Julian went to Paris for the summer to visit his grandmother. He told his grandmother about the school year and that he couldn’t bear to see Auggie every day at school. His grandmother was reminded of an incident in her life in which the Nazis invaded her village school in WWII and she hid in the bell tower of the school. There was a child in the school whose legs were deformed polio and none of the children had a high impression of him. They nicknamed him “Tourteau” which meant crab. Tourteau took her to her house and sheltered her from the Nazis. Then Julian’s grandmother felt remorse for calling Tourteau all these mean things. She asked him “I don’t want to call you Tourteau anymore. What is your real name?” He replied “My real name is Julian.” After hearing the story, Julian felt remorse, REMORSE, more than ever. He wrote a letter to Auggie apologizing for his actions and Auggie called back to thank him for it.
What we can learn from Julian's transformation?
We all make mistakes, but a good thing about life is that we can always fix them and learn from them. Julian promised himself that he would never behave like that with anyone else again. These transformations help us evolve to be better people in life.
Wonder by R.J Palacio is a book about a child named August Pullman, Auggie for short. Auggie has a severe facial deformity that has prevented him from going to school for a long period of his life, therefore being homeschooled by his mother. But now Auggie is ready to go to 5th grade at a school called Beecher Prep. Auggie is nervous to go to school, and not only is it because he has been to school before, but also because he doesn’t know what the kids at his new school will think of him. Anyhow, Auggie took a tour that would introduce him to the school principal Mr. Tushman, and three kids from his homeroom; Jack, Charlotte and Julian. Right from the start, Auggie realized that Julian was not going to be easy to deal with for he indirectly kept saying unpleasant remarks about Auggie.
After the tour Auggie bravely accepted to face the challenge of going to school, despite the fact that he might face teasing under Julian’s wake. The book explains how Auggie feels while working on his challenge through the viewpoints of not just Auggie, but also his sister Olivia or “Via”, his friends Summer and Jack, his sister’s friend Miranda and his sister’s boyfriend Justin. The school year has ups and downs such as …
Examples we can live by:
1. Summer- Summer was compassionate because on the first day, she sat with Auggie at lunch and she didn’t have any difference about him just because of his facial deformity. Even after that she continued to be one of his best friends despite her old friends teasing her.
2. Jack- In the beginning Jack was motivated by Mr. Tushman to be friends with Auggie, but later he actually felt the urge to be friends with Auggie but his old group of friends, which included Julian, refused to keep quiet. They tried to get back at Jack, via the Halloween incident and the “war”. However, Jack was brave to face all this with courage and remained loyal to Auggie.
3. August- Auggie was tolerant because he bore the insults Julian heaped at him without revenge and he did not let it affect him. He continued to be on of the smartest kids in the grade.
Julian's Transformation:
Julian went to Paris for the summer to visit his grandmother. He told his grandmother about the school year and that he couldn’t bear to see Auggie every day at school. His grandmother was reminded of an incident in her life in which the Nazis invaded her village school in WWII and she hid in the bell tower of the school. There was a child in the school whose legs were deformed polio and none of the children had a high impression of him. They nicknamed him “Tourteau” which meant crab. Tourteau took her to her house and sheltered her from the Nazis. Then Julian’s grandmother felt remorse for calling Tourteau all these mean things. She asked him “I don’t want to call you Tourteau anymore. What is your real name?” He replied “My real name is Julian.” After hearing the story, Julian felt remorse, REMORSE, more than ever. He wrote a letter to Auggie apologizing for his actions and Auggie called back to thank him for it.
What we can learn from Julian's transformation?
We all make mistakes, but a good thing about life is that we can always fix them and learn from them. Julian promised himself that he would never behave like that with anyone else again. These transformations help us evolve to be better people in life.