Book Review: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

My name is August. I won't describe to you what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.
Ten-year-old August Pullman wants to be ordinary. He does ordinary things. He eats ice-cream. He plays on his X-Box. He feels ordinary inside. But Auggie is far from ordinary. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, he has been home-schooled by his parents his entire life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now Auggie's parents are sending him to a real school. Can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them underneath it all?
Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to be read in one sitting, to pass on to others, and to remember long after the final page.

I was intrigued by this book when it arrived, especially with it's extremely striking cover. I read Wonder in just two days and thought that it was brilliant!
August Pullman is the central character, Auggie as he is known, was born with a severe facial deformity; something that affects him everyday and those around him. The books focuses on Auggie starting 5th grade at a normal school. He has been home-schooled so far but his parents know that he must get used to the real world, they can only protect him so much. Auggie's experience of school makes for very difficult reading, he just wants to be normal, not the kid that everyone stares at, not the kid that nobody wants to touch.
R.J. Palacio tells Auggie's story form different perspectives including Auggie himself, his sister Via plus some of his new classmates. The different perspectives were really interesting, especially Auggie's sister. Via wants to protect her brother and couldn't love him more but what would it be like to have a normal looking brother, a brother who doesn't take up so much of their parents attention?
I think that R. J. Palacio has written a very brave and humbling book. She really puts you in the shoes of the characters she has created, giving you so much to think about. This book did not take me long to read but I know that the story of August Pullman will stay with me forever.

Dot Scribbles Rating 5/5

Many thanks to the lovely people at Transworld for sending me a copy of the book to review. I have also been able to send the author some questions so I shall post these as soon as they come back!