Novel Review: Wonder by R. J Palacio

 

Tittle                : Wonder

Author             : R.J Palacio

Translator        : Harisa Permatasari

Publisher         : Atria

Year                : 2012

Pages               : 220 (original version)

                          428 (Indonesian version)

 

 

“My name is August, by the way, I won’t describe what I look like.

Whatever you are thinking, it’s probably worse.”

                                                                        -August Pullman

Wonder is a children novel which tells a story about a boy named August Pullman who has facial deformity that makes him look unordinary, even after having done a series of surgery. The thing is, he is just an ordinary kid with an extraordinary face. The only reason why he thinks that he is not ordinary is because no one else sees him that way.

 

Doctors have come from distant cities

Just to see me

Stand over my bed

Disbelieving what they’re seeing

 

They say I must be one of the wonders

of God’s own creation

and as far as they can see they can offer no explanation

                                                            -Natalie Merchant, “Wonder”

 

 

The story begins with an introduction of Auggie, with his face deformity that prevented him to go to an ordinary school so her mom homeschools him instead. People think that Auggie has not gone to school because of the way he looks, but it’s not that. It’s because of surgery he has had so he used to get sick a lot. Until one day, his parents send him to a Beecher Prep middle school (after some considerations). He got some fake friends, Jack Will, Julian, and Charlotte who see him the way ordinary people do; weirdly stare at him, but still trying to be nice. Jack becoming his best friend afterwards.

The first day at school feels alright, people keep staring at him like he has some disgusting disease, and he thought he was used to that kind of stares but he guesses he is not. The good thing is, a girl named Summer come to his lunch table, which no one wants to sit at, and talk to him like he is a normal kid. Then comes Summer’s idea to make that table they are sitting to be a “summer table” just for those whose namea are related to summer. August and Summer, kind of match - Summer in August –

Auggie seemed to be enjoying his school life until one day, he heard some bad things Jack and Julian said about him at his back. He doesn’t want to go to school after that incident. But Via, his sister, convinces him with several deals so he is still going to school but not being friends with Jack. Jack didn’t know what’s on the earth that Auggie keep his distance from him until Summer told him about the matter.

Although school life was not that easy for Auggie, he’s still going through that until the day he graduated –one of his best day ever–. People chanted his name when he was being called to go on the stage during graduation ceremony, and high-fiving him. The headmaster, Mr Tushman, gave him a medal and congratulated him on the stage. As he walked up to go to his seat, everyone standing up; got up on their feet, whooping, hollering, clapping. It was a standing ovation for him.

“Everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at leasth once in their life because we all overcometh the world”.

 

 He thanked Mom for sending him to school, and Mom thanked him for coming to their lifes. Mom whispered to him, “You really a wonder, Auggie. You are a wonder”

“I wish every day could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk around and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the masks.”

 

This novel has more than one point of view that readers get to know others’ perspectives about Auggie’s life well ­–and that’s one of the reasons why I recommend this book to you­–. Let’s say, we have Via’s point of view about Auggie. She once thought that her parents didn’t care that much about her –they really care about Auggie–.

“August is the sun. Me and Mom and Dad are planets orbiting the sun. The rest of our family and friends are asteroids and comets floating around the planets orbiting the sun”

                                                                                                                        –Via

 

This book is easy to read, is not complicated, with the story of issues that I think it’s universal. The author, Palacio, seems to know well that middle-grade people or adults will get so emotional when reading this than the children do. Palacio decided to ends this novel on a happy note in Auggie’s life, when he feels triumphant and well-loved. But everyone knows that life won’t always be kind, and adults know that well.

The only reason why I don’t tell you the conflict is because there’s no complicated conflict in this book. The story is just about children’s story –that normally is not as complicated as adults one– so we won’t really feel that ‘ups and downs’ when reading this book. Afterall, it’s still fun to read this book especially during our spare time since this is easy to read.