Wonder by Palacio. R.J. ( 2013 ) Paperback

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The blurb from the book says it best: AN IRISH VILLAGE IS MYSTIFIED BY WHAT APPEARS TO BE A MIRACLE BUT MAY ACTUALLY BE MURDER IN THE NEXT MASTERPIECE FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR EMMA DONOGHUE. A story that shows the impact of the Second World War and the rise of fascism on what had been a pastoral, fairy-tale childhood, with White Bird pulling no punches in connecting that historical moment to what’s happening in the world today.

I think there were many interesting themes floating around in this small-ish book, but I risk giving away spoilers by discussing them.

The rules are that anyone who touches Auggie has 30 seconds to wash their hands or they will catch the Plague. Wonder was on The New York Times Best Seller list [12] and was also on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list. Creo que la autora ha conseguido una novela que roza la perfección, describiendo el ambiente opresivo tanto de la familia como de la comunidad de forma llana pero muy convincente. The story switches perspective to Via, Auggie's older sister, who begins high school at the same time that Auggie starts middle school.

Julian isn't on the trip, which leaves his gang free to make their own decisions, and they show up to defend Auggie and Jack. At graduation, Auggie is awarded the 'Henry Ward Beecher Medal' for his exceptional strength and character throughout the school year, while Julian's parents decide to send him to a different school the following year.Devastated, Auggie stays home sick for several days and isolates himself from his family, frustrating Via, who begrudges Auggie for the priority he receives over her. Since Auggie is mad at Jack, Summer becomes his best friend, and their two families hit it off as well. As a result of the incident on the trip, the "war" is over as everyone comes together to help Auggie. Although some of the other girls tell Summer that she would be more popular if she didn’t hang around with Auggie, she decides that their friendship is more important. On Halloween, Via is confused when Auggie comes home early, claiming to be sick and refusing to go trick or treating.

Via has had to come to terms with the fact that her family's universe revolves around Auggie and his needs; hers often get pushed to the side. Town and church officials have hired an outsider to continually monitor the girl-wonder to try and discern the truth. I could not wait to read this book, and once I met the author at a book signing event, my excitement grew even more. The dialogue I always thought was really rather good and gave enough information to keep it all alive but didn't kill the story by giving away too much.

Thank you to Publisher Little Brown and Company, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. She admonishes one character for telling Anna a "lurid" religious tale, but she discovers that she had greatly misinterpreted the situation: “I don’t think you understand our stories, ma’am. On the opening night of the play, Miranda has no one there to see her, so after she sees the Pullman family in the audience she fakes an illness so that Via can go onstage instead. It is a wonder, but before anyone claims it as a miracle, a ‘committee of important men’ has decided to have her monitored every moment for two weeks to see if she is secretly eating. Attracting tourists and medical professionals alike, the country is abuzz with speculation- some say the girl is simply a Catholic miracle, a “chosen” one able to subsist on the love of God alone.

Lib has been nursing wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, trying desperately to keep men alive and as free of pain as possible.

This loss also makes Via forget about the fight, and the whole family goes to the school play to see Justin. Auggie is initially concerned about going, but is relieved to hear Julian will not be attending, as he considers the trip "dorky". At first, Jack is only friendly because the headteacher asked him to look after Auggie, but he soon realises that Auggie is clever and funny.