As I was reading this book I was thinking about someone inspecting an apartment to rent, only to find that the apartment is in poor repair. Despite the bumps and bruises, though, you can see that it has real potential to be a modern, chic, up and coming place to call home. You start to take steps to give it the care and attention it needs, and in the end, it really does become the most perfect place to establish a life with those you love. You saw the potential it had when you started to put the effort in to get it how you wanted it. Anyone dealing with a challenge knows that it takes real effort sometimes to see your own value and potential. To feel comfortable in your own skin and view yourself as a place you want to call home. Especially when your particular challenge or obstacle obscures your view. But the first step to seeing anything, maybe even something you may not like about yourself, is to look at it straight on. This mindset is developed and worked on over time because it's never easy to accept something that takes so much energy to not let it prevent you from enjoying life. This funny, uplifting and incredibly moving novel teaches a wonderful lesson about getting out of your comfort zone, pushing the envelope and preparing yourself for growth. Growth can hurt and sting, but at times, humor can make it less painful. The star of this book is a boy named August and he has a facial deformity. His parents knew they couldn't protect him forever by keeping him home schooled. While they understood why August wouldn't want to go to public school, they also knew that they had to prepare him for life in the real world. So, his mom and dad started talking about memories of their school days, and before you know it, August was able to contemplate attending his own school. Three students named Jack, Charlotte and Julian were assigned to take August on a tour of Beecher Prep middle school. Before August meets these students, the comparison is made through August's past experiences, between younger kids and older kids. Younger kids usually say things innocently, but older kids say things with greater intent to harm someone. People spend less and less time being empathic towards each other and it has had, and will continue to have disastrous emotional effects. On the other hand, it's a two way street. To help people understand, maybe even to have a better reaction, you have to put away the selfish emotions and put yourself in someone else's shoes. Jack really helped August in that regard...acknowledging that Julian could be a jerk, but it was important for August to talk and interact so that he could diffuse a potentially uncomfortable situation for himself and everyone else. When all is said and done, not everything in life, or with people, will be how you want it. The important thing to get straight in your mind is how to not let it stop you from moving forward or changing who you are. Situations like what August found himself in, trying to help his classmates see he's just like them, also makes you see who your friends are. August found out that Jack and Charlotte wanted to be true friends with him and their actions showed it. Another classmate, Summer, whom August ends up eating lunch with everyday, made meeting August fun. She didn't assume that August was weird! Instead, she sought to get to know him by asking him his name and then pointing out that their names had a common theme, so their table turned into the "summer" table. Only kids with summer names could sit there! Then she looked around the room showing August the kids who fit the criteria to potentially sit at their table, a non-awkward introduction of sorts! Way to go Summer!! Summer, Jack and Charlotte all chose kindness...which ultimately led to them seeing beyond Augusts' face and seeing who he truly was deep inside. Simply, a boy who wants to be like everyone else. Support from the people you care about most can make the difference in whether you survive and thrive, or completely crumble. The first step is an easy one:
#ChooseKind
Everyone goes through times that seem to be never ending and seem to have gigantic obstacles everywhere you turn, but if you stay with your face to the wind, on the other side you will be forever changed and it will shape the person you eventually become. August's mom was right, through it all, he became a true Wonder...You have that ability to become a Wonder, too...a tried and true WONDER!!
For more on author RJ Palacio, go to:
http://rjpalacio.com/
This book is becoming a MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!! Watch the Trailer:
http://www.wonder.movie/#
Michelle Fischer is host of A View from My Window, a podcast produced by The Arc of Indiana
