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)
- 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
- 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
- Why is Auggie worried about going to school? Everyone
will stare at him p.10
- 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)
- What did Mrs. Garcia’s shiny smile mean to
Auggie? She was fake, nervous and uncomfortable p.17
- What did Mr. Tushman have the three students do?
Give Auggie a tour of the school p.22
- How did Auggie’s mom act as he left with the
kids for the tour? Nervous p.22
- 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)
- 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
- Why did Henry put his backpack on his desk like
a wall? To separate himself from Auggie p.39
- How would you feel if someone did that to you? listen
to your child’s answers p.39
- 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)
- 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
- Why did Auggie cry when his mom was reading The
Hobbit to him? He was sad he was so ugly p.60
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- Why was Via upset about her friends, Miranda
and Ella? They were leaving her out p.94
- 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)
- Who did Olivia begin to hang out with? Eleanor
and her friends p.107
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- When did Jack first see August? On a bench in
the street eating ice cream with his babysitter and little brother p.136
- 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
- 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
- Why was Jack in detention? He hit Julian
for saying mean things about August p.154
Pages 158-185 (Season’s Greetings-The Boyfriend)
- How did Jack get a hold of August and apologize
to him? Facebook p.164
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- What wish do you think Olivia wished for on the ladybug? Listen to your child’s answers p.195
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- Why didn’t August want to wear hearing aids? He
was already nervous about his ears and felt self-conscious p.211
- 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)
- What happened to Daisy? She was sick and died
p.220
- What did August wonder about heaven? What it
would be like to not have his face matter anymore p.227
- How did August feel about the play as it began? He
liked it since it made him feel grown up p.230
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- What did Amos, Henry, Miles and Jack become
after that incident? August’s emperor guard p.272
- 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)
- What surprise did Via and August’s dad bring
home? A puppy p.280
- What was found in Eddie’s locker? Auggie’s
hearing aid headband p.284
- What happened to Auggie’s astronaut helmet? His
dad threw it out since he missed seeing Auggie’s face p.290
- 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