REVIEW OF WONDER by R.J. Palacio

You won't know what you've missed out on, if you haven't already picked up this Wonder of a book.

I won't even go to the extent of saying that it's a page turner. On the contrary, this story makes your heart so full and eyes brim over, you can't help but to not buy some time for yourself until you're ready to pick it up again.

It has the effect of churning your emotions to a fine powder and at the same time stay intact in the recesses of your heart. But try as you might, you cannot…will not abandon it halfway or stash it away, unforgotten and unread. No!

***

August,-- Auggie as he's fondly called by his family, is a fifth grade middle schooler struggling to find his place in a new prep school after being homeschooled in his initial years for the way he looks, attributed to a gene mutation.

Going through umpteen correction surgeries from babyhood to present day, Auggie still doesn't fit the aesthetic norms set by society. Although the kid is intellectually sound, the only outsider who loves him unconditionally is his elder sister's bestie—Miranda.

Needless to mention how pre-teens move up the food chain once they form a clique or become popular, it's hard enough blending in as it is but can you even begin to imagine what an almost impossible, disastrous task it is for kids who look like Auggie…

Shunned by everyone like the plague, sniggering behind his back within earshot, Auggie finds his tribe along the way too–the kids who are kind to him but only out of compulsion by the school to be inclusive to the specially abled as he finds out along the way.

Eventually, this blunt truth is revealed to Auggie in the harshest way possible and this, in turn, rips at the very fiber of your being.

The facade melts away and this is the most wretched day for Auggie, a shameful one for the so-called friends and an extremely difficult chapter for the reader…

Written in First Person POV, you will cry with Auggie, feel his humiliation and helplessness at your very deepest core, relate to his innocent joy splintered in a nanosecond!

And then you can't go past without sparing a thought for Auggie’s parents who only want the best for their boy, to study alongside kids his age in a classroom.

An intense deluge of reality trips you off your well grounded charade, an oblivion of your own high school days.

-Was I privy to any bullying going on in the hallways or the playground?

–Did I by any chance choose not to understand or notice and blindside an entire incident unfolding?

–Did I try to step in and stand up for the underdogs, the lonely, the isolated and the outcasts?

–Was I the Summer who shared a lunch table with the Auggies, the Jack Will who crossed swords with popular kids like Julian to shield the targets?

–Would I, for even a moment at that age, hesitate to report it to the school and risk the wrath of a powerful coterie and their toxic notes slipped into my backpack?

All these demons lose no time in surfacing to the fore and you have no choice but to face them and do some serious shadow work.

I have relived my entire high school years during this entire read and by the time the story ended, I was already in a deep introspection, disturbing though it was.

Auggie’s personal losses, his laughter, his tears, his heartbreak, his betrayals, his godforsaken days, his withdrawals and ultimately his triumphs all became mine.

Auggie wins the hearts of everyone in his grade…yes even those of the cronies of the big bully Julian when they're tired of following his nonsensical doings. Good sense prevails and their conscience starts speaking louder than Julian’s smear campaign.

How Auggie pulls himself together and doesn't let the world dictate what he should look like, his parents who accept him and love him to bits for who he is, the classmates Henry, Miles and Amos who eventually come around and are remorseful for the jerks that they've been and cheer for him the loudest in the school auditorium when Auggie is on the High Honor Roll at graduation and also wins the Henry Ward Beecher medal for strength of character will leave you teary eyed, yet you will want to embrace this child and tell him what a wonder of a wonderful Wonder he is!

Comments

Moxie N' Mettle

MOXIE N' METTLE In slivers and fragments as my sleep tiptoes, did I do right or wrong my heart needles… Some skies are born of black holes and tempest wreck, There glitters not a ray of light, nor a speck When curtains turbid hold all light hostage, Sandstorms, hailstorms, dust storms, snowstorms, windstorms assail and ravage Spanning my wings as a raging fire Or as a mellow glow of a fairy light in the distant darkness, quite debonaire I'll ignite my spark from within like a star born into itself spurting lava Or explode leaving trails of cosmic dust like a Supernova I will be the Sun creating galaxies and many a constellation. Or burn like a single flame of the candle to keep my hopes and dreams alive with determination! I will be at my own pace I will be whoever and whatever I want to be—in my own race Collapse, crash and crumble! But I'll...

CLOGYRNACH ( Day 8, Soul Craft Poetry)

CLOGYRNACH How time flies, they grow up too soon When they'd bawled you'd shown them the moon Your mirror image Feels she's in a cage Stomping rage! 'Teen Typhoon' Pic Courtesy: Soul Craft ©️ Sangeetha Kamath Clogyrnach, Welsh poetic form is typically a six-line syllabic stanza with an ab rhyme scheme: Line 1: 8 syllables with an a rhyme Line 2: 8 syllables with an a rhyme Line 3: 5 syllables with a b rhyme Line 4: 5 syllables with a b rhyme Line 5: 3 syllables with a b rhyme Line 6: 3 syllables with an a rhyme.

WHEN THE SHARDS SING, the BEAST AWAKENS( DAY 22, LETTER W)

CHAPTER 21 WHEN THE SHARDS SING, the BEAST AWAKENS Dawn was hours away, but nobody at Meadow Brook Cottage was sleeping. The stew was gone. The bread was devoured. The porridge pot was polished clean. The berry tart for dessert existed only as stains on Dapper’s snout. Tasha slept by the hearth, her milk cup clutched to her like a shield. The Knights Army sat around the scarred oak table, full-bellied and hollow-eyed, because Papa Koala’s words were still heavy in the air. As they pored over the map, Tasha roused from her sleep and knocked over her milk cup. Her milk cup rolled across the floorboards, hit the table and stopped dead against the oaken leg directly under the crystal apple. Both the objects buzzed in sync. Tasha whimpered in her sleep and t...

JOURNEY MOST TREACHEROUS ( DAY 23, LETTER J)

CHAPTER 22 JOURNEY MOST TREACHEROUS The plan was set. With a departure set before daybreak they would easily avoid the pig patrols, reaching Mistwood Shadow Glade before the Mighty Boar knew their agenda. As they filed out to grab minimal winks of sleep that wouldn’t come, the crystal apple sat alone in the dark, throwing tiny red constellations across the ceiling in the library. Watching. Waiting. They packed ammo for the battle of the ages. "Mistwood Shadow Glade is three days away. Day one: Cross the dell before twilight or the pig scouts sniff out your wake. Day Two: Skirt around the Bone Fields. Better still, avoid it altogether! We take shortcuts through low lying rivers. Water hides our scent. Day three: Reach the fringes of the Mistwood Shadow Glade. Keep the shards from getting activated along the way. No fires after dusk. ...

GATES TO THE VAULT( DAY 24, LETTER G)

CHAPTER 23 GATES TO THE VAULT Three days of trudging, trekking and aching muscles later, the cozy, sunlit, honeyed woods of Bramble Shire were miles behind them. At the edge of the deep, fog covered forest, a wispy figure appeared before them –The Guardian Maiden, Blaire barricading their way. "What do you seek in Mistwood Shadow Glade?" Her voice was the soft breeze that twirled around them. Ethereal! Hopper stepped forward gingerly. "The Locke Jewel. The last shard to piece together the Starwood Crystal. Where’s it hidden?" Blaire pursed her lips. "I’ll trade, as you know. Tell me your deepest secret. One you’d kill to hide." Chipper tensed. Hopper hesitated. There was a lot at stake, when she prodded, “The Pigs are closing in. Time is of the essence here, Rabbit ! If you don’t choose, you lose." Papa Koala warned, " ...

Sangeetha Kamath

Search This Blog