Junior Joanne Yi read “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio. 

“I like this book because it really puts a light on how good people can be and how bad people can be, especially because people are very judgmental,” Yi said. “I think this book is really good at conveying how kids are isolated sometimes because they don’t understand certain things.”

“Wonder” follows the story of a boy named August (Auggie) Pullman, who was born with a face that was different from everybody else’s. He attends a new school called Beecher Prep starting in fifth grade. All he wants throughout the story is to be treated as any ordinary kid in his school, but his classmates are not used to interacting with somebody different. 

“I think it is a really good story about how Auggie adapts to his new school,” Yi said. “I think the way people accept him as a person instead of how he looks is really important.” 

“Wonder” is R.J. Palacio’s debut novel. Since then, the book has been significant to the lives of many students all over the world, encouraging them to stand up to bullying and normalizing kindness towards classmates. Palacio won several awards for this book, including the Junior Young Reader’s Choice Award for 2015. 

“The author did really well in terms of writing the story smoothly and getting the message across,” Yi said. 

According to Yi, the message of the book is to not judge people by the way they look, an important theme that can apply to any situation. 

“Wonder” sets a beautiful example on how kindness can go a long way in someone else’s heart.