Novel Study: WONDER

'Wonder' is the touching story of a young boy named August living with a face deformation. He lives with his parents, older sister Via and dog Daisy. We are doing a novel study of this book and are required to answer questions as we go along.

1: What is August's one wish that he wanted? If you could change one thing about your appearance, what would it be?
August's wish was to not look like he does now and to live like any normal young boy. If I could change my appearance, I would want to make my hair long enough to tie up.

2: What do you think it means to be ordinary? What makes August extraordinary?
In my mind, there is no such thing as 'ordinary', as everyone is unique in their own way. August is extraordinary because of his many surgeries and he survived something he wasn't supposed to.

3: How do people react when they see August's face? How would you react?
People act horrified because he is different. If I saw someone like him, I would probably act the same for a second before starting a conversation with them to make them feel happy about themselves.

4: August's dad said, "So sending him off to school like a lamb to the slaughter..." What does this mean?
August's father knew he would get bullied at school but wasn't aware of it, just like how a lamb is oblivious that getting into the truck to the slaughter would be one of its last moments.

5: Would you send August to school if you were his mum or dad? Explain why or why not.
I wouldn't because I wouldn't want him to be bullied because of his facial features. I would find online resources for him to use to learn instead of going to school.

6: What white lie did August's mum tell? Why did she do it? Are white lies okay to tell?
August's mother said that the test to get into his new school was actually an IQ test. She did it to hide the fact that she wanted August to go to school. They can be okay depending on the context.

7: August decided that he liked Mrs Garcia - when she wasn't wearing her shiny smile. What is a 'shiny smile'?
A 'shiny smile' is a fake smile that someone makes when they're forced to smile when they don't want to.

8: How does August know the first time he meets Julian that he will be a bully? What are some of the ways that Julian bullies August? How does August respond?
August knew he would be a bully because of the attitude and he uses towards the other children and the way he picks fights at different things. Julian bullies August by teasing him about his facial features and August just takes it, he doesn't fight back.

I made a Wonder cover of myself!