The realistic fiction novel I read for this book talk assignment was Wonder by R.J Palacio.
The realistic setting of this novel is Beecher Prep Middle School of North River Heights, located at the tip of Manhattan. In the story, ten year old August Pullman must face going to school for the very first time after being homeschooled and having twenty seven surgeries on his face. August has tiny ears, his eyes are too low, and his smile is a straight line across his face. When he enters Beecher Prep, he isn’t surprised by the staring eyes and mean names that he is being called like “freak” and “zombie kid”. August has one goal this school year: to make friends. Through August’s journey he learns that people may surprise you. August didn’t think …show more content…
It starts with August, then his sister Via, Summer, Jack Will, Via’s boyfriend, Justin, August again, Via’s friend Miranda, and finally back to August. By changing viewpoints, readers can get a sense of how each character feels about August’s face. Readers can also understand the character’s personality, problems, family life, etc. In part two, one could understand Via’s feelings and emotions towards her little brother’s face. At one part it stated in the story that Via enjoyed the two week visit to her Grans house in Montauk because it was the one time she could escape from reality. Unfortunately, Grans passed away and Via could no longer visit. “This was the longest I’d ever been away from home, and I have to say it was so amazing to be suddenly free of all that stuff that made me so mad. No one stared at Grans and me when we went to town to buy groceries. No one pointed at us. No one even noticed us” (Palacio 85). Via loved her brother, never minded her parents paying more attention to August, never saw her brother as ugly, but taking a break from seeing the faces people made when August was around, felt good. She accepted the fact that she couldn’t change her brother’s face, but once in awhile she wished to be normal and have a normal family. She didn’t want everyone in her school sympathizing for her, or staring at her as if she was the one with the deformed …show more content…
I enjoyed reading this book because of the alternating viewpoints, and how the author chose to conclude the novel. From each new character’s perspective, I could understand how each character dealt with August’s deformed face and how they reacted when they first saw him. Also, I like how the author chose to end the novel. The last chapter clearly explained how the whole fifth grade no longer saw him as a disease. They all saw him as the boy with a kind heart who was intelligent and loved to make others laugh. I did not like how the author chose not to include the perspective of Julian. Julian’s perspective would have been really intriguing to read because he was the main bully throughout the novel. If there was a part dedicated to him, it may help me understand his reasons for tormenting August, and why in the end he was the only one who still saw August’s facial difference instead of his personality. In addition, I did not like when the author wrote from Via’s boyfriend, Justin’s point of view. This part of the text lacked punctuation and capitalization. I realize that when the author wrote in Justin’s perspective he was trying to show Justin’s personality, however without punctuation and capitalization it was hard to follow the words and find which sentence ended where. Overall, I would give this book a four out of five
The realistic setting of this novel is Beecher Prep Middle School of North River Heights, located at the tip of Manhattan. In the story, ten year old August Pullman must face going to school for the very first time after being homeschooled and having twenty seven surgeries on his face. August has tiny ears, his eyes are too low, and his smile is a straight line across his face. When he enters Beecher Prep, he isn’t surprised by the staring eyes and mean names that he is being called like “freak” and “zombie kid”. August has one goal this school year: to make friends. Through August’s journey he learns that people may surprise you. August didn’t think …show more content…
It starts with August, then his sister Via, Summer, Jack Will, Via’s boyfriend, Justin, August again, Via’s friend Miranda, and finally back to August. By changing viewpoints, readers can get a sense of how each character feels about August’s face. Readers can also understand the character’s personality, problems, family life, etc. In part two, one could understand Via’s feelings and emotions towards her little brother’s face. At one part it stated in the story that Via enjoyed the two week visit to her Grans house in Montauk because it was the one time she could escape from reality. Unfortunately, Grans passed away and Via could no longer visit. “This was the longest I’d ever been away from home, and I have to say it was so amazing to be suddenly free of all that stuff that made me so mad. No one stared at Grans and me when we went to town to buy groceries. No one pointed at us. No one even noticed us” (Palacio 85). Via loved her brother, never minded her parents paying more attention to August, never saw her brother as ugly, but taking a break from seeing the faces people made when August was around, felt good. She accepted the fact that she couldn’t change her brother’s face, but once in awhile she wished to be normal and have a normal family. She didn’t want everyone in her school sympathizing for her, or staring at her as if she was the one with the deformed …show more content…
I enjoyed reading this book because of the alternating viewpoints, and how the author chose to conclude the novel. From each new character’s perspective, I could understand how each character dealt with August’s deformed face and how they reacted when they first saw him. Also, I like how the author chose to end the novel. The last chapter clearly explained how the whole fifth grade no longer saw him as a disease. They all saw him as the boy with a kind heart who was intelligent and loved to make others laugh. I did not like how the author chose not to include the perspective of Julian. Julian’s perspective would have been really intriguing to read because he was the main bully throughout the novel. If there was a part dedicated to him, it may help me understand his reasons for tormenting August, and why in the end he was the only one who still saw August’s facial difference instead of his personality. In addition, I did not like when the author wrote from Via’s boyfriend, Justin’s point of view. This part of the text lacked punctuation and capitalization. I realize that when the author wrote in Justin’s perspective he was trying to show Justin’s personality, however without punctuation and capitalization it was hard to follow the words and find which sentence ended where. Overall, I would give this book a four out of five