Wonderful Auggie
Bewertet mit 4 Sternen
This is one of the rare cases where I saw the movie before reading the book. Actually I only knew about the movie, and while watching it I was curious if there is a novel it is based on. Turned out there is, so I got this book from the library right away.
The story in the book is not only told by August, but also by his sister Via, her boyfriend, her ex-best friend, and Augusts new friends from school. The author chose to tell their sides of the story one after the other. So everyone starts again at the beginning of the new term, and this technique does break up the flow of the narrative. I contemplated if telling the story chronologically with alternating viewpoints would have been better. But I don't think so, because in that case the change of perspective would have been the flow-breaker. So either way it is not easy to incorporate everything into this book. And I do think that seeing certain episodes from another persons perspective is very valuable in this case. By the way, it is quite telling that Auggies parents don't get a voice of their own here - it's only about the kids!
I very much admire August Pullman for his strength, which is needed the most not when dealing with his syndrome and all that it entails medically, but when dealing with all those people around him. But I also admire Jack and Summer, who befriend Auggie despite being the outcasts themselves as a result of that. I admire Via as well for being such an understanding and loving sister. I also very much liked Mr. Tushman for always seeing what's really going on at his school.
I found it a bit surprising that the bullying towards Auggie is rather 'soft'. There are some things behind his back, and everybody stays clear of him. But only Julian is at one point really rude to his face. I would have expected a lot more kids to be a lot more mean (let's face it - kids can be very cruel!). But maybe August is right when he says that they don't dare pick on him because then they would get into a lot of trouble. The reconciliation at the camp was also a bit too fairytale-like.
That being said, I still think "Wonder" is a really wonderful book. The most heart-breaking moment for me was the one about Daisy, by the way.
The edition I read is obviously intended for reading at school, and I would second that. The kids would learn about people that are different from others and would probably all be on Auggies side, right from the beginning. But would they also stop being mean to the weird kid in class as a consequence? Would they actively seek his/her company, like Summer and Jack do? I somehow doubt that. On the other hand, if this book would change the attitude of at least a handful of people (not only kids) towards extraordinary people like August, it would already make a change.