图书作者与内容简介

This book was written by Raquel Jaramillo Palacio. Wonder is about a boy named August Pullman, who was born with a rare facial disease called Treacher Collins syndrome. The story describes what happens to August in fifth grade: the friends he makes, the setbacks he encounters, and his growth as a person. It also shows the unexpected positive effects that August has on people around him.

我的观点

The protagonist of the story is a ten-year-old boy named August Pullman. August is just like any other boy, except that he was born with an extremely rare disease that has disfigured his face. The truth is, and there is really no other way to put it, that his face looks so hideous that almost everyone who sees him for the first time is shocked. When the story begins, August is considering whether he should go to school for the first time in his life. He has never attended school because he never had a chance: he has been in and out of hospitals his entire life, undergoing 27 surgeries to make his face look slightly more normal. August is terrified at the prospect of going to school, because he thinks everybody will laugh at him. In spite of this fear, however, August decides to give school a try. The rest of the novel describes what happens to him during the upcoming school year.
 
I really enjoyed Wonder for several reasons. First, it taught me to be more accepting of other people. In the story, August’s older sister Olivia starts high school as August starts fifth grade. She desperately wants to fit in, and so she doesn’t tell her classmates about August. To keep her relationship with August a secret, she decides not to invite her family to the school play. When August finds out, he is devastated. Olivia also feels extremely ashamed of herself. 
 
When I was reading that part of the story, I was reminded of an experience involving me and my cousin. Cousin Justin was diagnosed autistic and slightly mentally challenged when he was three years old. He lives in Germany, but he and his parents came to Taiwan for a visit in the summer of 2019. They visited my family one day, and I was in charge of taking care of Justin, who was ten at the time. We went out for a walk, and I was astonished by how badly a supposedly easy-peasy walk went. Justin was screaming practically the whole time, and everyone kept staring at us. He would suddenly start running, and refused to let me hold his hand. At that time, I just wanted to dig a hole in the ground and hide, it was just too embarrassing. I wish I did not have to walk with him. I said nothing when we came back because the ***s were having a great time catching up. For a while after the incident, I kept wondering how my uncle and aunt managed to live with someone like Justin all these years, and how they dealt with all the unwanted attention by strangers when they were in public.  
 
After reading Wonder, I realized that Justin’s parents put up with everything simply because they love him. The inconveniences, the troubles, and the embarrassment—none of these matters when it comes to their love for their son. Like August’s sister Olivia, I also felt ashamed for how I felt about my cousin on that day four years ago. I now realize that my cousin simply couldn't help himself. He did not choose to be like this. If what I felt was bad, what he and his parents were feeling was probably ten times worse. I could have been more accommodating with Justin, and I shouldn’t have felt so ashamed of him. My own experience also helped me understand the book a little better. I can relate to what August’s family must have been through their entire lives.  
 
The second reason why I really enjoyed reading Wonder is that it taught me about courage. Granted, there are many different kinds of courage. Being courageous doesn’t necessarily mean charging into battle and fighting a war. Sometimes, being brave means accepting life as it is and trying to make the best of a bad situation. In other words, play the hand you are dealt. Just accepting the way things are takes a lot of courage. And we really see this type of courage exemplified in August.
 
When the school year first begins, things go as feared and almost no one talks to August. But he doesn’t let this discourage him and remains upbeat. He manages to make two really good friends: Jack and Summer. Summer always sits with him during lunch, while Jack, who has many classes with August, soon becomes his best friend. On Halloween, however, August finds out how cruel life can sometimes be. He goes to school dressed up as Bleeding Scream, so that nobody recognizes him as his face is completely covered by a face mask. But then he overhears Jack badmouthing him, saying 「I’ve thought about this a lot, and I really think…if I looked like him, seriously, I think that I’d kill myself」 (p.77).  
 
Jack claimed to be August’s best friend, and yet here he was making such a cruel statement—what a betrayal of their friendship! If I were August, I probably would have dropped out of school immediately after hearing a remark like that. But August decided that he would remain in school. I greatly admire August for refusing to let a huge setback like that derail his plans, and I will also try to be much braver in the future.  
 
The third and final reason why this book is special to me is that it taught me a great deal about strength, which in some ways is closely related to courage. Strength, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, can mean 「moral force」. At the end of the school year, various awards are given out to outstanding students, and August is the recipient of the Henry Ward Beecher medal. As the school principal hands out the award, he says to the whole school, "He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own" (p.304). These words really apply to August. By the end of the book, everyone at the school has become August’s friend; they become much nicer people simply by associating with him. He has carried the hearts of the entire school. I feel that my heart, too, has been uplifted by the example set by August Pullman.
 
So, as you can see, Wonder is an inspirational book in many ways, and it teaches us some valuable lessons. At the same time, it is also fun to read, as the author made sure to blend in some humorous touches throughout her storytelling. As soon as I picked it up, I started reading page after page. I found myself empathizing with August and feeling all the miscellaneous emotions that he experienced—fear, happiness, anger, sadness, hope, among others. This is a story that made me laugh, made me cry, made me reexamine my values, and simply made me want to be a better, kinder person. In fact, after Wonder, I went on to read another book written by the same author which was published three years later. The book is titled Auggie amp; Me: Three Wonder Stories. It provides three different perspectives on August’s world. Well, as much as I would also love to share some interesting points about the sequel, since I’m not sure if smuggling a second book into the same essay is allowed, perhaps next time then!