Wonder

"Sometimes you don't have to mean to hurt someone to hurt someone."
(Page 137)


"My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

The book is about the 10-year-old boy August Pullman who was born with a birth defect. Because of that his face is totally deformed.
Auggie never had visit a real school an was home schooled by his mother, because wherever he is, people were afraid for him, when they saw his face.
When he comes to the fifth grade his parents thought, that he should visit a real school. But there it isn't easy for him, because nobody wants to have to do with him. After some time he finds two friends: Summer and Jack. However because of the friednship with Auggie they become outsiders too.
August fights for his friednships and for recognition.
But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them?

"Wonder" war mal wieder eine Schullektüre und nach einigen unschönen Erfahrungen mit diesen, fing ich zunächst mit eher gemischten Gefühlen an zu lesen.

Jedoch geschah gleich ein "Wunder", denn das Buch konnte mich ab der ersten Seite packen und mitreißen. Der Leser begleitet den 10 jährigen August während seines ersten Schuljahres an einer normalen Schule und darf bei seinem Kampf um Anerkennung teilhaben.

Das Buch hat mich zum Lachen und Weinen gebracht und mich sehr zum Nachdenken angeregt, denn leider ist es ja die erschreckende Realität, dass anders aussehende auch oft Ausgestoßene der Gesellschaft sind.

Das Buch wird in regelmäßigen Wechseln aus verschiedenen Ich-Perspektiven erzählt.
So lernt man nicht nur Auggie's Gefühlswelt kennen, sondern auch die seiner beiden Freunde Summer und Jack, die seiner Schwester und deren Freunde Miranda und Justin.

Ich konnte alle Seiten der Geschichte sehr gut verstehen. Ich verstand, wie August sich fühlte, aber ich verstand auch, dass es für seine Freunde und seine Eltern nicht immer leicht ist.
August ist sehr reif für sein Alter und es hat mich sehr beeindruckt, wie er als Fünftklässler mit einigen Situationen umgegangen ist. Ich wüsste nichtmal, ob ich heute so cool reagieren würde.


Das Buch eignet sich perfekt für Leute, die ihre Englischkenntnisse auffrischen wollen, da man nur selten ein Wörterbuch benötigt. Die meisten Wörter kann man sich tatsächlich auch aus dem Zusammenhang herleiten. Ich bin wahrlich nicht perfekt in Englisch, musste aber trotzdem nur eine handvoll Wörter nachschlagen.

Fazit: Dieses Buch hat mich sehr berührt und zum Nachdenken angeregt. Ich kann es wirklich sehr weiterempfehlen und denke, dass jeder es gelesen haben sollte - egal ob im Original oder auf Deutsch.
Von mir gibt es daher auch volle 5 von 5 Sternen und eine riesige Leseempfehlung!

“If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all”




Today I will write a book review to the book “Wonder”, written by R.J. Palacio.

It´s a fictional novel about the boy August, called Auggie, who has a deformed face. Because of his extraordinary face he has more problems than other kids at his age and he describes, how he deals with his problems. Auggie also is about to start going to school at Beecher Prep, so his life will change and he will be able to get many new experiences.

I really like the story, because everyone can learn something when he reads this book. The protagonists have problems, every teenager and also many adults know. I´d also been very shocked as I read some chapters, when the author described, how August gets stared everyday and that there are some people, who are very rude. So I think everyone, who read this book won´t stare at different looking people, who are deformed or handicapped any more.

The story is set in the present, that´s why I thought it could be true. I also thought like this, because the way, R. J. Palacio described everything, it seems very realistic and not like a fictional novel.

The plot was good, because there were some plot twists, I hadn´t expected. So they surprised me and at some points I was really shocked.

One of the main things I loved about the book was, that the story was told from different perspectives. It was told out of the perspective of some of Auggies classmates and also of his sister Via and her boyfriend´s perspective. The thing I liked about the narrative perspective change was, that the reader gets to know different views of Auggie and his outward appearance.


I like R.J. Palacios spelling style, because it was very easy to read, that´s why everybody can read this novel. Even if he isn´t a native speaker.

I like August as a main protagonist, because of his positive attitude and his way of seeing things with humor. The best thing about him was that he changed from a childish to a teenage like behavior.
His sister Olivia, called Via is also a great protagonist, because she is very sympathetic, helpful and a good sister to Auggie. The other part of the family is very nice, in the novel they ever get described as Augusts loving Family.
The miner characters were described in detail, so the reader get´s to know many things about them.
At some points I was really surprised, how mature things the protagonists said. Although I had expected that the kids would say some mature things, I hadn´t expected that they talk like grown-ups sometimes. But that was absolute amazing, because I could mark many quotes.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves books with different sides, which are sad and also funny.
Don´t read this if you hate deeper storys.

All in all it was a very good book. So I give 4.5 of 5 stars for it!




Ich hoffe diese etwas andere Rezension hat euch gefallen. :)


LG

Jasmin (jassilovesbooks)

So what the books is about. It is about a boy called Auggie and he has a facial disorder. Because he does not look like the other kids in his age, he gets bullied. That is the reasons why he is homeschooled by his mother. Someday Auggie decides that he wants to go to a real school. Three students should take care of him and help him the first days in school. Firstly, they behave very strange, and they do not now how to behave. Later, it changes....but i do not spoiler...more and more Auggie even gets some friends at school. At lunch he always sits together with agirl, called Summer.

This book was our lecture in English class. I really like the way it is written. You can follow very well, even if English is not our mother tongue. The interesting thing is that it is written from different views. First it starts his Auggie, then comes his sister, Summer, and some other students at school. Our novel has - in addition - the Julien Chapter. This is very school, because Julien is the one , who does not like August at all....

All in all it is a great novel, which shows that you should not care about how humans look like. And you should not have any prejudices. And you should not bully other people.

The story in the book is not only told by August, but also by his sister Via, her boyfriend, her ex-best friend, and Augusts new friends from school. The author chose tell their sides of the story one after the other. So everyone starts again at the beginning of the new term, and this technique does break up the flow of the narrative. I contemplated if telling the story chronologically with alternating viewpoints would have been better. But I don't think so, because in that case the change of perspective would have been the flow-breaker. So either way it is not easy to incorporate everything into this book. And I do think that seeing certain episodes from another persons perspective is very valuable in this case. By the way, it is quite telling that Auggies parents don't get a voice of their own here - it's only about the kids!

I very much admire August Pullman for his strength, which is needed the most not when dealing with his syndrome and all that it entails medically, but when dealing with all those people around him. But I also admire Jack and Summer, who befriend Auggie despite being the outcasts themselves as a result of that. I admire Via as well for being such an understanding and loving sister. I also very much liked Mr. Tushman for always seeing what's really going on at his school.

I found it a bit surprising that the bullying towards Auggie is rather 'soft'. There are some things behind his back, and everybody stays clear of him. But only Julian is at one point really rude to his face. I would have expected a lot more kids to be a lot more mean (let's face it - kids can be very cruel!). But maybe August is right when he says that they don't dare pick on him because then they would get into a lot of trouble. The reconciliation at the camp was also a bit too fairytale-like.

That being said, I still think "Wonder" is a really wonderful book. The most heart-breaking moment for me was the one about Daisy, by the way.
The edition I read is obviously intended for reading at school, and I would second that. The kids would learn about people that are different from others and would probably all be on Auggies side, right from the beginning. But would they also stop being mean to the weird kid in class as a consequence? Would they actively seek his/her company, like Summer and Jack do? I somehow doubt that. On the other hand, if this book would change the attitude of at least a handful of people (not only kids) towards extraordinary people like August, it would already make a change.