I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while. I recently saw the movie, which I thought was so well done, but I wish I had read the book first . Even though the movie was pretty true to the book with a few minor differences, the problem with seeing the movie first is that as I read the book I saw the actors rather than imagining them as the author wrote them. Because the movie was so true to the book, I almost felt at times as if I’d already read it. Having said that, I’m still very glad I read it . I have an affinity towards child narrators who are almost always precocious and know so much more than the adults around them . It was inevitable from the first sentence that I would love ten year old August Pullman. He’s smart and funny and perceptive and has a genetic condition that caused cranio-facial abnormalities and even after 27 surgeries in his young life, he’ll never look like everyone else. While he has been stared at and ridiculed, Auggie has been quite protected by his loving family. The stares and the ridicule and the bullying get pushed to another level, as Auggie sets out for school for the first time in his life when his parents opt for middle school over home schooling. Specifically, it is a story about theater, the making of it and the meanings that come from the messy and marvelous collaborations that are its essence—interactions among artists, between artists and audiences, between a show and the world.

There are always going to be jerks in the world, Auggie,” she said, looking at me. “But I really believe, and Daddy really believes, that there are more good people on this earth than bad people, and the good people watch out for each other and take care of each other.” In the end, when I recapitulate the whole book, there are simply too many "toos" that come to my mind: the different voices were too similar, Auggie’s parents too good and too understanding, the "villains" too evil, the ending too perfect, the overall tone a little too preachy.Always remember you're as good as anybody else,' his mother, Kate, often told him. And he was, becoming a champion footballer and premiership-winning coach. But change was in the air, and Vince knew he had more to contribute. So he teamed up with Charlie Perkins, his 'brother' from the boys' home, to help make life better for his people. At every step, with his beloved wife, Brenda, Vince found light in the darkness, the friendly face in the crowd, the small moments and little things that make the world go round. What shall I write you about yesterday's triumph?" Sholem-Aleichem asked his daughter in a letter the day after he saw the show. In ecstatic detail, he described how the audience "literally covered me with flowers" after the first act and how after every act that followed they called him to the stage repeatedly. In the fourth act, he reported, "the public simply went crazy, applauding every phrase that had any connection to the play's theme. At the end, hats started flying in the air and some kind of wild, elemental force tried to gobble me up. For a moment I thought the theater might cave in."

At the end of the book, Auggie’s dad admits that he threw away the astronaut helmet that Auggie used to wear when he was younger, because he hated the way it hid Auggie’s face. William Collins, Sons" was a Scottish printing company founded 1819 by Presbyterian schoolmaster, William Collins, in Glasgow in partnership with Charles Chalmers. Chalmers left the business in 1825. In 1841, Collins was a printer of Bibles. In 1848, his son Sir William Collins developed the company as a publisher of religious and educational books. It became "William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd" in 1868. In the 1900s, Sir Godfrey Collins took charge and the company diversified into fiction and children's books as well as educational books. In 1990, Collins merged with Harper and Row, becoming HarperCollins.

Findlay, Carly (3 June 2014). "Wonder by RJ Palacio. Choose kind". Carly Findlay . Retrieved 7 July 2021. Tears were streaming down my face as I finished this book—and the funny thing is, they were primarily tears of joy. Wonder is written with the kind of sensitivity and insight that I had hoped for when I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and it went the extra mile to be an uplifting story that made me want to embrace life and the people in it, too. I also very much appreciate that this middle grade book is written for its intended age group, not just a book for adults in the guise of a children’s book, even though it’s certainly one that can be enjoyed by readers of any age. There are bad guys in this book, sure there are, but only one of them remains unredeemed and he loses his popularity. In other words: the good guys triumph and the bad guys get punished. I wasn't feeling it. It seemed so unbelievable to me that the only person who doesn't get a happy ending is the evil kid. I feel a bit like a cold-hearted snob for giving this book two stars. I am not saying that it isn't an uplifting story definitely worth being told (and read), but I can't deny that there were a few aspects I had problems with and that the story didn't trigger the emotional reaction I expected it to. Olivia, known as "Via" by her family, is Auggie’s older sister. She is 15 years old and has just started high school. During the book she explains how she is having trouble finding her own identity and feels left out by her friends.