Today I’m inspired by…

this wonderful, amazing and inspirational book – ‘Wonder’ by R.J Palacio. It was lent to me by a colleague at work who had also fallen in love with the story and thought I would too. She was right. Wonder is the story of a young boy named August who has a facial disfigurement. Throughout the book, the story is told from the different perspectives of the main characters and Palacio is such a talented writer that you feel empathy for each one – even though there may be occasions in the book when you initially disagree with their actions.

The other unique aspect to this book is that although the story contains adult characters such as August’s parents and his teachers, the narrative is spoken through the voices and eyes of all the children involved in a relationship with August (as well as August himself). I loved that element of the story. I wish I were more articulate in conveying to you how wonderful this book is but you will just have to take my word for it! If you haven’t read it yet, please do. And if you have children who you think would enjoy it once you have read it, please pass it on to them. If I were still teaching children full time I would definitely read it to them. In the meantime I’m using some of the themes and issues raised in the story with my post graduate students in a lecture later on this week instead!

Have I convinced you yet?

Image: Celebrate Creation