Wonder by R. J. Palacio

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Wonder by R. J. Palacio, which was well narrated by a wonderful cast of voice actors. Wonder was my first read during the month of November 2025.

Wonder by R. J. Palacio is a children's novel that had been on my reading wishlist for a number of years before I finally made the time to listen to it this year.

The writing is superb for Wonder! I loved the characters, the storyline, and the plot development for Wonder. Auggie Pullman the main character. He is a young boy with a birth deformity that leaves his face looking very abnormal. Auggie receives a lot, and I mean a lot, of stares because of they way he looks. Due to all of his surgeries, Auggie is home schooled until his parents decide to send him to school where he enters the fifth grade. We read about Auggie's experience with going to school for the first time, making friends, and dealing with what comes when one has a physical deformity.

One of the things I love about children's novels are the important messages/life lessons imparted in them. In Wonder, kindness, compassion, empathy, and self-acceptance are the key life lessons. Wonder also explores looking beyond/past outward appearances. In this case, it's all about looking beyond Auggie's facial deformity and seeing the person within for who he truly is.

Below is publisher's summary for Wonder by R. J. Palacio I discovered on the Goodreads website:

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school?until now. He's about to enter fifth grade at Beecher Prep, and if you?ve ever been the new kid, then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances? R. J. Palacio has crafted an uplifting novel full of wonderfully realistic family interactions, lively school scenes, and writing that shines with spare emotional power. Wonder is a book with such a big, wide heart? it shows how we are all fragile, imperfect, and perfectly beautiful creatures.

I am giving Wonder by R. J. Palacio 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!