Auggie Pullman has Treacher Collins Syndrome. He is starting real school for the first time, in fifth grade at Beecher Prep School. At school Auggie faces many struggles as he adjusts to school life involving friends and bullies. Luckily Auggie has quiet strength which carries up the most hearts throughout his time at school. Wonder demonstrates the hardships of growing up with  a disorder. Many children and adults struggle from the challenges that they face because of a disability. Wonder, both the book and the new  movie, shows the story of a boy with a facial deformation.The book and the movie are very close in their storyline, they both tell the story of Auggie Pullman and his friends and family during Auggie’s first year at real school.

The book Wonder  by  R.J. Palacio, alternates between the perspective of Auggie and his friends and family. This includes him, his sister, his sister’s best friend, his sister’s boyfriend, and Auggie’s best friend. All of these perspectives make the story a lot more interesting because you see the story from everyone’s eyes, not just the main character’s. The movie used this technique as well. The narrator’s voice would change to different people in the story. While many books have alternating perspectives, Wonder is one of the best uses of it. It really adds a lot to the story. Dobbs Ferry 7th grade student Berit Harwood says “The alternating perspectives really added to the overall feel of the book and it should have been featured more in the movie.” Overall, the alternating perspectives are very good in expanding the story of Wonder.

In the book, Wonder, Auggie is seen as a loving, sweet, vulnerable, but overall brave young boy with a disability. However in the movie some viewers see Auggie as a baby.  “I feel like the book already depicted all of the characters as older than 5th grade because they are already doing older things. But I feel like in the movie they make them younger which confuses the audience.” says Fiona Joslin, a 7th grade student at Dobbs Ferry Middle School. Overall Auggie is portrayed very differently in the book and the movie Wonder.

Ultimately Wonder, both the book and the movie, are extraordinary stories that capture the life of a truly unique boy Auggie Pullman.We hope that you enjoy this story as much as we did.