Thursday, March 23, 2017

Wonder

I really enjoy reading and ever since Charlie died I haven't been able to focus long enough to finish a book.  I would let my mind wander and read large chunks of books and have no idea what had happened so I just took a break.  I recently picked up a book and finished the entire thing.  I was really excited.  A little piece of me was coming back.  As soon as I realized I could read an entire book and enjoy it I decided to set a goal.  I wanted to be able to read one book a month.  Keeping in mind teaching and being a mommy and wife don't leave much time to have a hobby I decided that was a fair place to start.   I started in January and have been on par since.  The most recent book I finished reading was Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

As I began the book I had high expectations.  I knew the premise and had heard so many friends rave over the book and all that it encompassed even while being restricted (labeled) by young adult fiction.   As I began I learned more about the main character that I had not known before reading it.  The boy in the story, August Pullman, has a facial difference that kept him out of school.  He was homeschooled and spent large amounts of time in his home.  The unique part of this story is how it begins being told from Auggie's perspective at the start of the story.  He explains what he sees and how he feels when he goes through his day to day life and as he transitions to a new life as a student in a school.  The viewpoint then changes and throughout the story as we learn more about Auggie and his family we hear from his classmates, his sister, his sister's boyfriend, and others.  

There is one point in the book where Auggie is dressed in a costume for Halloween.  His friends all thought he was going to be dressed as something entirely different.   When he walked into class that day he was able to be completely invisible and hear the things the people around him said when they thought he was not around.  It broke my heart to read what they were saying.  I wanted to reach into that book and explain to those boys that the words they were using were going to stay in his heart and mind forever.  I really have a love hate relationship with that part in the story.  It is what kept me reading.  It is also what made me almost want to stop.  It is what I feel like students everywhere need to read.  I believe they need to understand life in someone else's shoes from someone else's perspective.  

Overall, I would give it a thumbs up.  I was a unique read and worth the short amount of time it takes to finish.  If you have a heart for people, you will have a heart for Auggie.  He will make you think about how you look at someone and/or respond to someone with special needs.      

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