Wonder is the touching tale about a fifth grade boy, August Pullman ("Auggie"), who was born with a rare combination of genetic anomalies, causing him to look “deformed”. These birth defects require many surgeries throughout his childhood. As a result, Auggie is not able to attend public school until fifth grade. Though he is very smart and has been home-schooled, Auggie has no idea what it is like to be in school with other children. His only experiences with people, besides his family and a few others, have been in hospitals or when people gawked at him in public. The book relates Auggie’s first year of school from the perspective of many different characters. He experiences both bullying and random acts of kindness. The story is an eye-opening account that helps the reader understand what it is like to be different, to experience bullying, and to persevere. Wonder is a great tool in the fight against bullying.
