Samantha Sutton
3/26/15
Dr. Servais
A Readers Guide to Wonder by R.J. Palacio
About the Author:
R.J. Palacio is a graphic designer as well as a writer. She lives in New York City, and Wonder is her first novel. As Entertainment Weekly once wrote about her work, “In a wonder of a debut, Palacio has written a crackling page-turner filled with characters you can’t help but root for.” Palacio began with just designing book jacket covers for both Fiction and Non-Fiction books, but after waiting and waiting for the right time to write a book, she finally decided the right time was now. Although she did not design the cover of her own book, she loves it all the same. Palacio has an exceptional knack for writing realistic conversation and describing thoughts and emotions of each character.
Theme: Kindness
The first example of kindness in the book, Wonder, is when a girl names Summer sees August sitting alone at lunch. No one see, to want to sit with him, the other students afraid of his deformity. Regardless of what everyone else would think of her, Summer sat down at August’s lunch table and befriended him. Summer is a valiant character because she never leaves August when everyone makes fun of her throughout the book.
“Hey, is this seat taken?”
I looked up and a girl I never saw before was standing across from my table with a lunch tray full of food.
“Uh, no,” I said.
“My name is Summer, by the way. What’s yours?”
“August.”
“Cool,” she said.
“Summer!” Another girl came over to the table carrying a tray. “Why are you sitting here? Come back to the table.”
“It was too crowded,” Summer answered her. “Come sit here. There’s more room.” The other girl looked confused for a second. I realized she was one of the girls I had just caught staring at me a few minutes earlier: hand cupped to her mouth, whispering.
“Never mind,” said the girl, leaving.
Summer looked at me, shrugged-smiled, and took another bite of her mac n cheese. (51)
The second example of kindness is when a boy named Jack, who August met back in the summer when the principal had three kids show him around the school he would be attending. Jack is the only one out of the three to really befriend August. He sits with him in classes and hangs out with him outside of school. He struggles with how people treat him because he hangs out with August for a little while, but over comes it when he realizes how great of a friend August is. Jack is kind to August and sticks up for him when Julian bullies August.
“I hung out with Jack in homeroom, English, History, Computer, Music, and Science, which were all the classes we had together. The teachers assigned seats in every class, and I ended up sitting next to Jack in every class, so I figured either the teachers were told to put me or Jack together, or it was a totally incredible coincidence. I walked to classes with Jack, too. I know he notices the kids staring at me, but he pretended not to notice.” (63)
“I must have had a stupid look on my face because Julian came over and said: “looks like you and your best bud are partners.” He was smirking when he said this. I hated him so much right then.
“Hello, earth to Jack Will?”
“Shut up, Julian.”
“You must be so bummed you got stuck with him,” he said. “You should tell Ms. Rubin you want to switch partners. I bet she’d let you.”
“No, I don’t want to.”
“Ms. Rubin?” Julian said, turning around and raising his hand at the same time. “Could we switch partners if we wanted to?”
And that’s when I punched him. Right in the mouth. (154)
Last, the third and final person who played a primary role in kindness in the book was Mr. Tushman, from day one, was kind to August. He accepted him for who he was and treated him as an equal to everyone else. While most teachers and peers were shocked by August’s appearance, he took no notice and made August feel comfortable to be in a new environment such as the school. He asked several students to show him around and give him an opportunity to make friends right off the bat. When Jack punched Julian for being cruel to August, Mr. Tushman only gave Jack a suspension instead of expelling him, in my opinion because Jack was kind and was always August’s friend. He gave a speech at the end about kindness and how important it was for students to know, and the final award was given to August because he showed everyone just how important it was to be kind and accepting of others.
“But the best way to measure how much you’ve grown isn’t in inches or the number of laps you can now run around the track, or even your GPA. It’s what you’ve done with your time, how you’ve chosen to spend your days, and whom you have touched this year. That, to me, is the greatest measure of success.”
“Shall we make a new rule of life…always to try and be a little kinder than is necessary?” (299)
“Without further ado, this year I am very proud to award the Henry Ward Beecher medal to the student whose quiet strength has carried up the most hearts. So will August Phillips please come up here to receive this award?” (300, 304)
These passages relate to the book as a whole, because they show how each character somehow brought kindness to light. The whole book focuses on August and how his deformity has changed the way people see and think of him. However, through this, the reader as well as the characters, is able to go through a transformation on what it means to accept and be a friend to someone who has a harder time gaining friendship. Like Mr. Tushman wrote in his speech, “it’s not just the nature of kindness, but the nature of one’s kindness. The power of one’s friendship. The test of one’s character, the strength of one’s courage.”
Questions to Ponder:
· Can you explain the character development of Jack? Did he change throughout the story? How so?
· Where is the majority of the setting of the story?
· Has bullying become a serious issue in schools today? Do children get picked on for being different? Has bullying changed throughout time?
· Do parents have a strong influence over how their children turn out or end up acting towards people? As they say, “does the apple fall far from the tree?”
· What is another theme besides kindness in this book?
Activity 1: Snowball Writing Activity
· English: Have each student begin writing on their page the theme, climax, setting, symbolism, and any facts they think would be important for the class to know to sum up the book. When the teacher calls time, ball up your paper and throw it to the middle of the room, from there have each student pick up someone else’s paper and continue writing it. After everyone is done, have them compare answers to see what everyone wrote down, and which papers were alike.
Activity 2: Genetics
· Science: Have the kids research the disease Treacher-Collins syndrome and what the odds are a child with one or two parents also with the same disease may develop it. What is the percentage? Can it be fixed with today’s scientific research and study?
Activity 3:
· History: Have the students research historical figures that may have had this same disease. get in pairs and make a list of these people and research how this disease affected them in life. Each group pick at least two people to present on and then present them to the class.
Who’s Who:
· August Pullman: “Auggie” is the Protagonist of the book. He has a facial deformity called Treacher-Collins disease; and is constantly made fun of by children at the school he attends. He struggles at first with how people think of him, but in the end he learns to accept himself just the way he is.
· Olivia Pullman: She is the older sister of August, who struggles with being a sister of a deformed kid. She loves him and wants to be there for him, as well as accept him, but when she moves to a new school, it’s a new start for her where no one knows about her deformed brother. Occasionally she feels jealous of how much attention August gets.
· Isabel and Nate Pullman: August’s parents who have always accepted him for who he is. They encourage him to attend school and make friends, and they always stick up for him no matter what.
· Summer Dawson: August’s first real friend, who sits with him at lunch on the first day of school. After that day, they name the lunch table the “Summer only lunch table.” She’s always very kind to him and never cares what other people think of her being friends with him.
· Jack Will: August’s best friend. Before school starts, Mr. Tushman encourages him to give August a tour of the school so he can adjust easier. Throughout the book although he likes August a lot, he sometimes feels the peer pressure to make fun of him just like the popular kids. In the end, he sticks up to the bullies, mainly Julian and continues his friendship with August.
· Julian Albans: The main bully in the book. He is the group leader of the bullies who creates nasty rumors and jokes about August because of his deformity. He creates the “plague” and sucks in all the other students into following him. He is the main Antagonist.
· Miranda Navas: Olivia’s best friend, but it is revealed early on they are now ex best friends. In her chapter, she reveals she had a terrible summer and came back and decided to become a new person. By doing that, she fit in with the popular crowd in High School and stopped talking to Olivia. She loves August and regularly checks in on him.
· Justin: Olivia’s boyfriend she begins dating a little into the book. He likes her very much and accepts August for who he is. He even sticks up for August and confronts Julian.
· Daisy: August’s first dog and first best friend. She is always there for him, but sadly passes away towards the end of the book.
Works Cited
· Part 1:
Palacio, R.J. “Praise for Wonder.” About Wonder. 2012. Mar. 20, 2015. http://rjpalacio.com/book.html
Palacio, R.J. Wonder. United States of America: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.
· Part 2:
Key Passage. No outside sources used.
· Part 3:
Key Passage. No outside sources used.
· Part 4:
Key Passage. No outside sources used.
· Part 5:
Palacio, R.J. Wonder. United States of America: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.