I Know I Can’t Change the Way I Look. But Maybe, Just Maybe, People Can Change the Way They See.

We’re All Wonders written by R.J Palacio is about a little boy named Auggie, who was born with a form of facial abnormality.  The story is narrated in the first person point of view so we get to see the world from his perspective. Auggie realizes that he’s different than the other kids his age because of the way he looks. But he also knows that everything he does is completely ordinary. For example, he loves to play ball, ride his bike, eat ice cream and take his dog for a walk just as any ordinary kid. However, it mentally disturbs him that people often have shocking reaction when they see him. They mock him and say bad things about him secretly.

Sadly, Auggie hears them all. He knows how people constantly try to put him down and view him as an outsider. People can see that his face is almost featureless, he has one eye and two ears, but what people cannot see is that he also has a heart full of feelings. And it hurts when he’s reminded every time that he does not belong. Auggie says, “My mom tells me that I’m unique. She says I’m a wonder.” He does believe that he’s a wonder because of his appearance and he eagerly wishes that people would see that too and accept him for the way he is. Auggie wants others to see that they’re wonders too. He says, “We’re all wonders.”

In the story, when Auggie feels down and lonely, he goes to visit his imaginary world with his dog Daisy. He stands in planet Pluto and observes from far that the Earth looks so tiny, but it’s large enough to hold so many different people who come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. The little boy is definitely a wonder because he’s teaching us from the awful experience he’s going through and revealing how victimizing someone based on their differences is hurtful and wrong.

Therefore, along with Auggie, the readers get a firsthand experience about how terrible it feels when someone is mistreated by others. At the end of the book, he says, “I know I can’t change the way I look. But maybe, just maybe people can change the way they see.” These two lines pretty much sums up the message that Auggie is trying to convey to the people, peers and to the larger society. Despite all the negativity, Auggie hopes for a better world where people would respect each other’s differences and treat everyone with love and kindness. We’re All Wonders has become a nationwide inspiration to choose kindness over hatred. It received many awards including Goodreads Choice Awards and #1 New York TimesBest Seller book.

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