Friendships can be hard to keep up with. There are lots of times when we feel it would be easier to not be friends with someone, and lots of people test your loyalty everyday. This idea has been explored in a unique way by R.J Palacio in her book Auggie & Me. Palacio’s first book, Wonder, tell us the story of August Pullman- a boy with facial deformities going to school for the first time. The book has been written from various perspectives as August navigates through fifth grade, coping with studies, activities, bullies, and making new friends. Touching people’s lives in different ways! It is a warm, comfortable, and happy book, something that anyone would love. Auggie & Me is Palacio’s next book, and it is not a sequel! This turned out to be a little disappointing, as I was hoping to know what happens to Auggie, the Pullmans, and all his friends and enemies when Auggie enters sixth grade. Auggie & Me is a companion book; it does not continue where Wonder left off but just broadens Auggie’s world, from the perspective of three very different people in three different chapters. Auggie’s archenemy, Julian, in “The Julian Chapter” Auggie’s childhood friend Chris who left North River Heights before the happenings in Wonder, in “Pluto” Charlotte, the only girl to be chosen as Auggie’s welcome buddy in the first book, in “Shingaling” Surprisingly, this book does not tell us much about Auggie, rather about the troubles faced by these three kids. Troubles at school, at home, in the park, and mostly the trouble with their friends. It does, however, give us a different perspective to Auggie’s life too. “The Julian Chapter” Julian was the biggest bully in Wonder, and none of the readers like him. He is the one who started the Plague game to bully Auggie; he was the one who called Auggie freak; and he was responsible for leaving mean notes in Auggie’s and his best friend Jacks’ locker. If you Google this apparently very mean kid, you can even find posters like the one given alongside. But is Julian really bad? There must be a reason for him to act like that, and that is what is explored in The Julian Chapter. One reason I like this part of the book is that Palacio has not given up on any of her characters. She has explored circumstances even from a bully’s point of view. But I won’t tell you anymore. Julian has his own difficult story to tell! “Pluto” Christopher Angus Blake is Auggie’s childhood friend, who left the neighborhood before the events in Wonder take place. He knows Auggie is different, but he has always been his friend. However, Chris finds it hard to keep up with the friendship and thinks of letting go. In “Pluto,” we can see snippets of Auggie’s life before he starts 5th grade in Wonder, and also Chris working hard to save relationships with his friends. Lots of people are testing Pluto’s loyalty, and he isn’t sure how far it will stretch! P.S: It would be interesting for you to find out why it is called Pluto. “Shingaling” Charlotte Cody is a nice girl. She never was mean to Auggie; she always waved high whenever she saw him. She was totally nice. But, Charlotte, unlike Summer and Jack, did not go further than that. She did not want whispers about her and Auggie; she did not want anyone to think she was actually friends with him. But we never knew from the first book, that there is a lot going on in Charlotte’s world during 5th grade. Old friends and new, mean girls, the mystery of Gordy Johnson, and of course the big dance performance in Carnegie Hall that year. While learning to do the Shingaling, Charlotte makes new acquaintances and good relationships with Ximena, Summer and Maya. There is of course a lot to enjoy in the third and last book, and I would recommend it to you wholeheartedly. Auggie & Me is a beautiful book, and I give it 5 stars. I feel like anyone in middle school right now should try it, because it gives you new perspectives. But to understand and to enjoy the book fully, you will have to read Wonder first. P.S: There is also a movie which I will reviewing later on. Auggie & Me by R. J. Palacio. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2015. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
R.J. Palacio
Four Books and the Meaning of Normal: A Review of Out of My Heart, Wonder, The Thing About Georgie, and Freak the Mighty
Four novels, Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff, and Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, all include and think about characters who are different. For once, we are told that heroes don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to use outcasts as props to make a hero look good – we don’t need to make them out to be helpless victims that need to be protected. They can be the main characters and the heroes, not just supportive characters lurking in the background. With characters we don’t usually see as main protagonists, these books are about acceptance, belonging, and being different. Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper circles around a girl named Melody, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. In this sequel to Out of My Mind, Melody goes to summer camp for kids with disabilities. At camp, she plays balloon ball, swims, paints, rides a horse, and even goes on a zip-line, things she thought she’d never do before. Her counselor is kind, and all around her Melody sees walkers, wheelchairs, and much more. And most importantly, she makes friends. And though nobody can be exactly the same as her, she’s finally found people that accept her, and a place where she belongs. In Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Auggie is a boy with cleft palate and other facial differences that make him an outcast. People either think Auggie is a freak and that he’s disgusting or a poor child with a disability who needs pity. For these reasons, Auggie has been homeschooled by his protective parents who watch him constantly. But Auggie’s finally going to middle school, and though he tries to prove to others that he’s “normal,” nobody accepts him anyway. Friends can change to enemies quickly, and then back. People aren’t good or bad, they’re complicated, and this makes things confusing for Auggie. But through his troubles and challenges, he finds a group that lets him just be himself, not a category, and he decides not to be “normal.” Because why try to fit in when you can just be yourself with the right people? The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff is about a boy named Georgie who has dwarfism. Georgie’s middle name is Washington, and his idol is the founding father George Washington. But when he gets paired with Jeanie the Meanie for a history project, he is having trouble cooperating with her. She isn’t nice to him, and she signs him up for the school play about American presidents, but to play Abraham Lincoln! Abraham Lincoln was the tallest American president, and all of a sudden Georgie feels very, very short. On top of it all, his parents are going to have a baby, and Georgie is not excited to soon see his sibling outgrow him year by year and be able to do all the things that Georgie can’t. And Georgie’s friend Andy seems to be more involved with the new kid, Russ, than him. So, overall, Georgie’s problems are big. But when Georgie realizes that Jeanie the Meanie isn’t so bad and begins to resolve his problems with Andy, Georgie finds that he doesn’t have to be big to do big things, and that love doesn’t depend on size. True friends don’t care about what you look like. They appreciate you no matter what. In Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, Max is a boy who is tall for his age, in a special class at school, and thinks of himself as “stupid.” But Max discovers that he’s not stupid at all – he’s very smart, it’s just just nobody has realized it yet. When “Freak” – or Kevin, a former acquaintance of Max’s – moves into the neighborhood, Max learns that with Kevin’s imaginative, smart brain and Max’s large body, they can become “Freak the Mighty.” Together they go on rescue missions and adventures; they seem to be able to go anywhere they want to go. But Kevin isn’t fine, and neither is Max. Kevin’s health condition isn’t easy to deal with, and Max has problems with his father. But Max and Kevin are always there for each other. When many people say “disability” or “different,” they also say “how unfortunate.” They don’t see people like Melody, Auggie, Georgie, Max, and Kevin as individuals, they see them as nothing but handicaps. But Out of my Mind, Wonder, The Thing About Georgie, and Freak the Mighty allow us to see people who happen to have disabilities or are otherwise different for who they truly are: funny, intelligent, and caring friends who follow their own paths.
Wonder, Reviewed by Marilena, 9
Ever wonder how it feels to watch the movie of a book you just finished reading? The movie and book are usually very different because one uses words and the other visuals to tell the same powerful story. Wonder by R.J. Palacio is no exception. It is a book that every grammar school student between 4th-6th grade needs to read to be more sensitive of how differences in appearance can cause hate, bullying and fear. While the plot, the characters and the lessons are similar in the book and movie, there are differences that I noticed that changed my experiences with this thought-provoking book. In the book, Auggie, the main character is a disfigured child trying to have a normal life in school while being bullied by some and building good relationships with others in his class. The book and movie are both told from the perspective of different characters, something I have never before encountered. The movie, however left out Summer’s point of view, and she was an important friend of Auggie’s who played a very significant role in the story and in Auggie’s life. A factual error that did not translate well in the movie version was the development of the friendship with Summer. Summer, in the book, sits with Auggie on the first day of school while in the movie, she does not form a relationship with him until several days later. The time line is not quite right. The movie may need extra time to build these relationships, whereas in the book, the author is able to build the characters’ personalities more easily. I found myself crying several times while reading the book. The death of Auggie’s dog was a big loss for Auggie, who has a deformity that keeps people from getting to know him. In the beginning of the book, he does not have friends and the dog is all he has. The emotions I felt were very strong because the author uses vivid descriptions to explain how Auggie feels. Auggie’s feelings are a big part of the written version of Wonder. The movie relies on dialogue to show us Augie’s emotions and it is not as powerful or memorable. The book, Wonder, is something every child should read to make one more aware, sensitive and understanding of the differences that exist in us and how our own choices can make a big difference in someone’s life. The movie takes Auggie’s disfigurement and shows it to us. I think seeing it is very different from reading about it. Watching Auggie, his face, his pain, and his sadness makes the book real. It makes Auggie real. It makes all his friends real. It makes the ugliness of the bully, Julian, real. Watching the movie after reading this book made the author’s message even more powerful. Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
