Wonder Summary
Wonder Summary
Wonder Summary
Palacio
Close Reading Notes pages 3-32
Part 1, August
August is a ten-year old boy living in North River Heights Manhattan,
who has a mother (who used to be a children’s books illustrator), a
father, and an older sister called Via. The book begins at a point in
time when August is only a week away from entering 5th grade in
school. This is the first school he will be attending: the many
operations he’s had to endure since birth have kept him from
attending school (roughly 2-3 per year). August had three very good
friends, but they do not meet up very often.
The book opens with a first-person narrative description of a 10-
year-old boy who likes to “do ordinary things” (p3) but who
describes his own physical appearance as something that makes
“other ordinary kids run away screaming.” (ibid)
Important themes: ordinary/normal vs. extraordinary, compassion &
confidence, self-realisation & self-acceptance, transformative
actions, self-care and the care for others, kindness/politeness,
compare & contrast, individual vs society, unconventional
Character List: August (Auggie), Mother (name Isabel), Father (name
Nate), Via, Christopher (only mentioned), Zachary (only mentioned),
Alex (only mentioned), Joel (only mentioned), Eamonn (only
mentioned), Gabe (only mentioned), Doogie (only mentioned), Lisa
(Christopher’s mum), Mr. Tushman, Mrs. Butt (“Roberta” only
mentioned), Mrs. Garcia (Mrs. G), Jack Will, Julian, Charlotte, Ms.
Petosa (Only mentioned), Mr. Haller (only mentioned)
p. 3 Chapter 1 Ordinary
The “extraordinary” protagonist’s name is “August”, which is
revealed at the end of the first page, where we are also introduced
to one of the central themes in this novel: August’s struggle to be
viewed and understood in the same way that he views and
understands himself – as ordinary. There is an interesting
discrepancy in August’s self-perception on the first page. This arises
from August’s statement that he knows that he is “not an ordinary
ten-year-old kid” (ibid) at the beginning of the page, which contrasts
his statement that he is the “only person in the world” (ibid) who
realizes “how ordinary” (ibid) he is. The way “others” react to him
shapes a lot of August’s daily experiences, his self-perception and his
struggle to be viewed as ordinary.
Question 1: How is August’s sister Via described in the first
chapter?
Question 2: “I would wish that I had a normal face that no
one ever noticed at all.” Why does August wish he had a
“normal face”?
Question 3: How and in which ways is August’s daily life
impacted by his condition? What do you imagine his daily
struggles are?
The “funny” (p6) story that August remembers is a story from the
night of his birth, when the doctor fainted and the “smelliest fart in
the history of farts” (p7) from one of the nurses was what finally
woke him up. Palacio appears to use this story to provide his reader
with other important details which are not “funny” but rather
moving. This includes the fact the nurse comforted his mother when
they discovered August’s condition, or that his mother had to
“prepare herself for the seeing of (him).” (ibid) August describes his
face in his mother’s eyes as “tiny mushed-up” (ibid), but also
suggests that she noticed “how pretty (his) eyes were.” (ibid) The
chapter ends with August’s reflection that both his parents and sister
are pretty.
p. 10 Chapter 5 Driving
In this chapter the narrative picks up pace and we are placed into the
“now” from which August had been telling the story so far. In the
beginning, the family is in the car on their way home. August and Via
are pictured sleeping in the back seat while their parents “talked
quietly about grown-up things.” (p10) The author highlights that it is
not only August who has to deal with his condition, but also his
parents: “We can’t just pretend he’s going to wake up tomorrow and
this isn’t going to be his reality, because it is (…) and we have to help
him learn to deal with it.” (p10) The choice of the word “reality” is
interesting here, suggesting that August and his parents experience
different realities because of his condition, instead of sharing a
reality. The simile “sending him off to middle school like a lamb to
the slaughter…” presents an authentic and interesting
implementation of turn taking rules as August interrupts his father
here which results in incompleteness of the latter part of the simile.
The fact that August is only a child and is still learning things about
himself shines through in this chapter when August expresses the
feeling that his mother and father “were on the same side” (p11)
from which we can deduce that August often feels like it’s “him vs
the rest of the world.”
We find out other details such as that August’s parents applied to his
new school a year ago, and that “the lady who came to the house
that time” was not coming to conduct an “IQ test” but was part of
the admissions process. The sense that August views himself as
fighting alone against the world is strengthened in this chapter when
his mother explains that every 5th grader will feel just as anxious.
Interestingly, his mother tries to remove him from that position and
group him together with the other children by saying “that’s the first
year of middle school – for everyone. You won’t be the only new
kid”, but August rejects this and replies that there is no other kid that
“looks like” him. While his parents seem to constantly try to tie him
in with the others, August appears to reject this and distance himself
from the others, repetitively drawing attention to the ways in which
he is different.
Chapter 15 really picks up the pace and opens with a very interesting
moment: August does something that “the others” typically do, and
therefore briefly becomes a part of them. As we have learned from
the other chapters, people react strangely to August, looking the
other way or giggling and screaming in the case of children.
Therefore, while August is typically the one getting looked at and
made fun of, he is here part of “the other”, looking and laughing at
someone else: “and I saw Mr. Tushman standing there (…) I started
giggling right away.” (p15)
At the end of chapter 7 Mrs. Garcia and August’s mother bond over a
picture of Mrs. Garcia and her grandson, which the author also uses
to expresses the profound care she has, and the fact that “she was
just as nervous as (he) was.” Again, this pairs them together in this
experience and August becomes a part of “the other.”
In this chapter, the characters are in the school building, partly in the
office, partly in the hallway and other rooms. This is set a month
before the official start of school. August, his mother and his father
have a more personal discussion with Mr. Tushman, in which he
succeeds to make August laugh. Eventually August hears kid’s voices,
and Palacio uses the simile “I’m not exaggerating when I say this, but
my heart literally started beating like I’d just run the longest race in
the world.” (p20) Rather awkwardly, Mr. Tushman introduces the
children to one another, an experience that August summarizes for
himself as “took my hand, forced a smile, looked down fast.” (p22)
Palacio uses this as another opportunity to show how caring,
concerned and committed August’s mother is by describing her voice
as “sounding a little higher than normal” and through August’s
observation that “she seemed more scared than (he) was.” (p23)
How does Mr. Tushman “break the ice” between August and
himself?
What does the framed painting behind Mr. Tushman’s desk
depict?
How does August feel about meeting students that day and
going on a tour?
They talk about the play, but the atmosphere becomes tense when
Julian begins speaking “sarcastically” (p28) and offensively addresses
August, questioning if August is “smart enough to take the science
elective” because his mother “is not a real teacher.” (p28) Julian
becomes more rude when he asks August if something happened to
his face: “were you in a fire or something?” although he insists the
he is “not being rude.”
Charlotte and Julian argue, and it is revealed that Mr. Tushman had
briefed the children by telling them that August “was born like that.”
(p29) Jack breaks up the argument and urges everyone to the library.
He also manages to turn the moment into something positive when
he smiles back at August, highlighting how powerful a small gesture
like that can be: “But somehow Jack Will got that I had smiled at him.
And he smiled back.” (30) Jack then encourages August to break out
of his shell by calling Julian a “jerk” and telling August that he will
have to communicate more, “like he was trying to help (him).” (p30)
What is “Oliver!” and why does Charlotte get excited when she
talks about it?
Which part (or parts) in this chapter makes Julian appear rude?
Do you think he is being rude intentionally or by accident?
How can Julian improve his behaviour? What does August’s
reaction to Julian’s rudeness reveal about August’s character?
The children return to the office where the parents and Mr. Tushman
are talking. The awkward atmosphere resumes and the children talk
about which rooms they went to. August signals to his mother that
he wants to leave by asking her if it isn’t time to pick up his sister,
which is a lie he made up. However, his mother plays along with the
lie which allows them to leave “kind of quickly after that.” (p32)
August notes himself how quickly they then left, and admits to the
reader that Julian had made him feel bad: “even though it was really
only Julian who made me feel kind of bad.” (p32) At the end of the
chapter, August and his mother leave the school building. August is
described as facing the floor.
Vocabulary Table
Page Word Definition
6 Cleft palate A cleft is a gap or
split in the upper lip
and/or roof of the
mouth (palate). It is
present from birth
6 Anomalies (plural noun) a person or thing
that is different from
what is usual, or not
in agreement with
something else and
therefore not
satisfactory
7 Overcometh (verb) Archaic third-person
singular simple
present indicative
form of “overcome”
16 Electives (plural noun) an optional course of
study
25 Incubator (singular noun) a device for keeping
birds' eggs at the
correct temperature
to allow young birds
to develop until they
break out of the shell
25 Bunsen burners device for combining
a flammable gas with
controlled amounts
of air before ignition;
it produces a hotter
flame than would be
possible using the
ambient air and gas
alone
Events timeline