“My name is August, by the way. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”
Meet Auggie. An extraordinary ten-year-old who just wants to go to school and be entirely ordinary.
He’s been home schooled his whole life and not because of what the other kids might say about his face. It’s because of the 27 surgeries he’s undergone.
Listen: Holly Wainwright and Andrew Daddo on why you need to read this book. Post continues…
Now for the first time, Auggie is going to school and he wants to make some friends. Between the taunting and the staring, this young boy is petrified. But first, he has to figure out how to show the other kids to see the person inside.
If you’re a child, a teenager, a parent of a child or teenager, or anything in between, you need to read Auggie’s story.
The book Wonder was written by R.J Palacio back in 2012 and its lessons of tolerance are universal. It’s a short and easy read for kids over ten, although emotionally it may tear you apart.
This Glorious Mess listener Heather Luttrel got in touch with the show to recommend we all read this gorgeous story. She says the book generated fantastic conversations with her children.
“I think every child and teenager should have to study this book at school and every household should own a copy. It is a magnificent book that fosters kindness, empathy and acceptance,” she says.
