Wonder

by R.J. Palacio

Grades 5-7; Genre - Fiction; GRL V; AR pts: 11.0

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial difference that prevented him from going to a main-stream school - until now. He's about to enter fifth grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid, you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

Comprehension Questions

Part 1 August

Pages 3-16 (Ordinary-Paging Mr. Tushman)

1. Describe the main character. His name is August (Auggie), he’s ten years old, his face is different than everybody else, has a family with a mom, dad and sister named Via, is homeschooled, has had 27 surgeries since his birth, has friends named Christopher, Alex and Zach p.3
2. Describe the night Auggie was born. His mom and dad knew there were some problems with Auggie’s face before he was born, but when he was born the doctor fainted and the nice nurse carried August out quickly. Auggie’s dad ran after her dropping and breaking the video camera and the farting nurse held Auggie’s mom down and tried to wake the doctor; the farting nurse was also a nice nurse and she stayed with his mom; the doctors didn’t think Auggie would make it through the night, but he did; when his mom first saw him she thought he had pretty eyes p.6
3. Why is Auggie worried about going to school? Everyone will stare at him p.10
4. What did Auggie’s dad do that helped convince him to go to school? He made fun of the principal’s name p.12

Pages 17-34 (Nice Mrs. Garcia-The Performance Space)

1. What did Mrs. Garcia’s shiny smile mean to Auggie? She was fake, nervous and uncomfortable p.17
2. What did Mr. Tushman have the three students do? Give Auggie a tour of the school p.22
3. How did Auggie’s mom act as he left with the kids for the tour? Nervous p.22
4. How was Julian rude to Auggie? He asked him questions about his face; mocked him for being home schooled; cut in front of him and made him stumble backwards p.28

Pages 35-50 (The Deal-Choose King)

1. Why was Auggie’s mom now saying he couldn’t go to school? She felt sad Julian was mean and didn’t want him to be exposed to other mean kids; she wanted to protect him from bullies p.35
2. Why did Henry put his backpack on his desk like a wall? To separate himself from Auggie p.39
3. How would you feel if someone did that to you? listen to your child’s answers p.39
4. Explain what Julian meant when he asked Auggie liked Darth Sidious. Julian was making fun of Auggie’s face since Darth Sidious has a face that gets deformed and looks like it’s melting p.44

Pages 50-80 (Lunch-Names)

1. How did Summer help Auggie feel accepted? She sat by him during lunch and talked to him about their names and who could sit at their summer table p.51
2. Why did Auggie cry when his mom was reading The Hobbit to him? He was sad he was so ugly p.60
3. Why does Auggie consider himself the old moldy cheese? No one will touch him and if they do, they hurry and wash their hands p.72
4. What did Jack say to Julian on Halloween that upset Auggie? He made it sound like he couldn’t stand August and was forced to be his friend p.77

Part 2 Via

Pages 82-102 (A Tour of the Galaxy-Breakfast)

1. Whose point of view are we hearing in the story now and describe them. Via’s or Olivia’s; August’s sister who’s in high school; she loves and defends August and never complains since his life is so much harder p.82
2. Why does Via think Auggie needs to grow up? He’s 10 and shouldn’t be treated like a baby; he needs to learn to talk about things p.90
3. Why was Via upset about her friends, Miranda and Ella? They were leaving her out p.94
4. Why did Via want to ride the subway home instead of getting a ride? She wanted to be independent and do her own thing p.101

Pages 103-117 (Genetics 101-Time to Think)

1. Who did Olivia begin to hang out with? Eleanor and her friends p.107
2. Why didn’t August want to go trick or treating, or to the Halloween Parade? His mom would have made him go to school the next day since he was feeling better p.113
3. How did Via help Auggie realize it was important to go to school and that everyone had bad days? She helped him understand that it was normal to hate school and to have bad days and that if he wanted to feel normal too, he needed to keep going and not give up p.115

Part 3 Summer

Pages 119-132 (Weird Kids-The Egyptian Tomb)

1. What’s the Plague? Julian started it by saying if anyone touched Auggie they had to wash their hands within 30 seconds, or they would get the Plague p.120
2. What did Savannah say to Summer at the party? She invited Summer to be in the popular group and that Julian liked her, but she couldn’t be August’s friend too. Summer had to decide between August and Julian p.122
3. What did Summer do to get out of the party and who did she choose? She went to the bathroom and called her mom to pick her up and she left; August p.123
4. How did Summer keep her promise to August and still help Jack know why he was mad at him? She gave Jack the clue, Bleeding Scream; it’s what August dressed up as for Halloween when he overheard Jack talking to Julian about him p.132

Part 4 Jack

Pages 134-157 (The Call-Detention)

1. When did Jack first see August? On a bench in the street eating ice cream with his babysitter and little brother p.136
2. Why did Jack agree to be August’s welcome buddy? He felt bad and knew August didn’t stand a chance at middle school p.141
3. Why couldn’t Jack write about meeting Auggie for the English assignment? Jack was worried Mr. Browne would make them read them out loud or put them up on a bulletin board, and he didn’t want Auggie to see it p.148
4. Why was Jack in detention? He hit Julian for saying mean things about August p.154

Pages 158-185 (Season’s Greetings-The Boyfriend)

1. How did Jack get a hold of August and apologize to him? Facebook p.164
2. What did Will find challenging as he went back to school after being hitting Julian? His friends wouldn’t talk to him and they all ditched him p.168
3. Why is Julian’s mom trying to get August’s school application reviewed? She doesn’t want him in the school and is trying to get him kicked out p.171
4. Describe the war going on between Jack and the other boys in fifth grade. Julian’s convinced the other boys that August is bringing down Jack and so they have stopped talking to him as well as hanging out with him. They’re hoping to wake him up and to get him to stop hanging out with August p.172

Part 5 Justin

Pages 187-204 (Olivia’s Brother-The Universe)

1. Compare Justin’s parents to Olivia’s parents. Justin’s parents don’t pay attention or talk to him, they got divorced and hate each other. Olivia’s parents pay attention, talk and laugh to their children and to each other p.191
2. What wish do you think Olivia wished for on the ladybug? Listen to your child’s answers p.195
3. What did Justin do for Jack when he saw Miles, Henry and Julian in the subway station? He scrunched up his face, looked mean as he held his violin case threateningly and told them in a Clint Eastwood voice to leave Jack alone p.199
4. What metaphor does Justin use to describe Olivia on page 203? He compares her to a bird: how her feathers get ruffled when she’s mad, and when she’s fragile she’s a little lost bird looking for its nest. So he'll provide her a wing to hide under p.203

Part 6 August

Pages 206-219 (North Pole-My Cave)

1. How did Jack and August respond to the notes Julian left in their lockers? They wrote loves notes from a pretend girl named Beulah and left them in Julian’s locker p.208
2. Why didn’t August want to wear hearing aids? He was already nervous about his ears and felt self-conscious p.211
3. Why didn’t Olivia want to invite her family to her play? She didn’t want August to go since the kids at her new school don’t know about him p.218

Pages 220-234 (Goodbye-The Ending)

1. What happened to Daisy? She was sick and died p.220
2. What did August wonder about heaven? What it would be like to not have his face matter anymore p.227
3. How did August feel about the play as it began? He liked it since it made him feel grown up p.230
4. Why was it good that Olivia’s family came to see her? She ended up being the lead since Miranda got sick p.230

Part 7 Miranda

Pages 236-248 (Camp Lies-After the Show)

1. Describe what Miranda did at camp that made her self-conscious to call Olivia? She smoked, snuck up to the boys camps and hung out with them; she’d lied to everyone about having a little brother (August) who was deformed; her parents being in Europe, living in a huge townhouse and having a dog named Daisy; she changed her hair and makeup and changed her t-shirts into halter tops p.237
2. Why did the drama teacher switch from doing the play Elephant Man to doing Our Town? Miranda lied to him, telling him that her little brother was deformed, and that Elephant Man would hit too close to home p.240
3. Why did Miranda lie to the drama teacher about being sick and not being able to go on stage? She realized no one was at the play to see her and saw Olivia’s family in the audience and knew Olivia should perform p.244

Part 8 August

Pages 250-275 (The Fifth-Grade Nature Retreat-Aftermath)

1. What made August feel comfortable about leaving Baboo home when he went to the retreat? He knew Daisy was with him wherever he went p.256
2. Name 3 things August and his classmates did during the retreat? They went on a two-hour guided nature tour in the woods, hung out in the rec room playing ping-pong and arcade games, had a campfire cookout, rode horses, rappelled up trees, went to an outdoor movie night p.257
3. Who came to help Jack and August, during the movie night, when they went into the woods for a bathroom break? Amos, Miles and Henry p.267
4. What did Amos, Henry, Miles and Jack become after that incident? August’s emperor guard p.272
5. What positive consequence resulted from Eddie and his friends bullying August and Jack in the woods? August showed courage; Amos, Henry and Miles hadn’t been nice to August all year and came to defend him and became his friends; they spread what happened and the girls asked if he was all right and everyone really seemed to care about August p.274

Pages 276-310 (Home-The Walk Home)

1. What surprise did Via and August’s dad bring home? A puppy p.280
2. What was found in Eddie’s locker? Auggie’s hearing aid headband p.284
3. What happened to Auggie’s astronaut helmet? His dad threw it out since he missed seeing Auggie’s face p.290
4. Name one characteristic that August demonstrated that helped him earn the Henry Ward Beecher Award? Give an example of why you chose that characteristic. Have your child list one of the following characteristics and an example of how August showed it during the story: Courage, kindness, friendship, character p.304