Wonder

     "He started flipping through a small book on the podium until he found the page he was looking for, and then he put on his reading glasses. "'Shall we make a new rule of life...always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?'"
     Here Mr. Tushman looked up at the audience. "Kinder than is necessary," he repeated. "What a marvelous line, isn't it? Kinder than is necessary. Because it's not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed. Why I love that line, that concept, is that it reminds me that we carry with us, as human beings, not just the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness.""

---

R.J. Palacio

Palacio (1963 - ) was a children's book illustrator, an art director and literary graphic designer before writing Wonder, her first novel. Published in 2012, the book has since that time been made into a movie, translated into 40 languages, and was the impetus for the Choose Kind Campaign #choosekind.

Story Synopsis

Auggie was born with a facial difference that required multiple surgeries before his 10th birthday and which prevented him from attending a traditional school until he starts the fifth grade at Beecher Prep. He becomes an unlikely hero when his family and  his new friends and classmates journey through the school year discovering their compassion and acceptance.

---

Wonder

Does anyone else wonder or marvel at how the qualities in life we value most -- courage, kindness, strength of character -- are often in found in abundance with those who have suffered or struggled in life? Why are many of our real-life heroes people who have overcome great obstacles? There is a final quote in the book which goes to the heart of this question:

 "'Greatness," wrote Beecher, 'lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength... He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts...'"

Our heroes help us to become better people by sharing their courage, kindness and strength of character with us.

---

Middle chapter book readers, 316 pages. Auggie was born with a facial difference which prevented him from attending school until he starts middle school at Beecher Prep.