30. Wonder - P. J. Palacio

Series information

Read on my iPhone through Audible

Audio read by Diana Steele, Nick Podehl and Kate Rudd

Unabridged (8:06)

2012, Knopf

315 pgs.

Middle School Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Finished 4/28/2015

Goodreads rating: 4.42

My rating:    (5) Awesome  

Contemporary NYC

My comments:  First let me say that I listened to this book, which gave additional voice to the four or five characters that had points-of-view. At times this was great, at others not-so-great. It gave a different dimension to the character of Auggie - a lightly gravelly tone that seemed to have a teeny, tiny bit feminine edge to it that every so often put me off.  August has (and will continue throughout his entire life) to see first hand reactions to a face that is grotesque, different, un-beautiful  in a world that has embraced physical beauty as a capstone. What would my reaction be when I came face to face with a ten-year-old with such a face?  OF COURSE I would want to get below the surface, but I am an adult.  I could go on and on with my thoughts about this, and that's what makes this book such a marvel.  It makes you contemplate deeply.  It makes you look at your own inner values and realities.  That is what makes this book stand apart from so many others that I've read.  And the best thing is that all this thinking comes packaged in a delightfully written story that is character AND plot driven.   A winner.

(This will have to be my primary read-aloud next year.)

Goodreads book summary:  I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.
          August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?
          R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.