Dallas’ Pick: Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Juvenile Fiction)

With all the hype of the new movie coming out I decided to see what made Wonder so interesting to the school age group. This is another book that I had no idea what it was even about but I picked it up for its popularity. I was surprisingly impressed by the interest level in this book. The book deals with a young boy in fifth grade, August, until now he has been homeschooled because he has a rare disease that affects the way he looks and kids can be mean sometimes. His family and he decide it’s time for him to go to a real school and get social skills and learn on a higher education level. He ends up coming way out of his comfort zone and doing things he would have never imagined himself doing. Unfortunately, he does meet some very mean and hurtful kids and even adults but that doesn’t stop him or break his spirit. I enjoyed the amount of courage this young character showed and the bravery it took to face the struggles he has had to go through in his young life. Although this is a fictional book you really grow attached to these characters and I can only imagine the pain this child would have going to school with deformities like he has today. Even though this was an emotional book I still think it was a really well written and interesting book and I cannot wait to see the movie.