Booktalk: Wonder

** Note: I've also released this post for the El Paso Public Library to use for its blogs**

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Wonder is a very interesting read—it zips along and you’ll find yourself rooting for all of the characters who have a voice in the book.  In Wonder, we meet August “Auggie” Pullman who was born with a very serious health issue and face deformity. When he’s 10, he goes to school for the first time and even attends a 3 day camp away from home with his class-mates. Auggie’s experiences are both familiar and unusual. Many people have been teased or treated as an outcast like Auggie is in the book, but Auggie’s problems are made even worse because of his facial deformity which is very serious.  He looks very different from other people and it takes some special kids to allow themselves to see past Auggie’s looks and become friends with him.

Auggie’s family is very interesting and we get to know them very well. In fact, many of the characters—even characters that seem minor—in the story are fully developed and we get to know them better through their own narration. Via’s part of the story fleshes out the experiences of siblings of children with special needs. Via is a great character: strong, but not perfect.

This book is an excellent read for all ages. The reader comes to understand a lot about how kids feel embarrassed being friends with someone who is different and how it feels to be bullied and singled out. I think the story will also especially appeal to kids that are reluctant to read. The chapters are very short and the characters are easy to identify with—many of us have felt the way they felt at one time or another!

After reading the story, which follows Auggie’s first year at Middle School, I really felt different. That’s the part of the story that is really a “wonder.” I felt like Auggie was real and the people who loved and supported him were real, too.  I also felt more hopeful about other people. The story really shows how we can all help make differences through small (and big) acts of kindness and bravery in our everyday lives.

Very much recommended!

What's Left of Me

**NOTE: I've released this writing for the El Paso Public Library to use in their blogs.**

What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Because of the Hunger Games, Science Fiction, and especially books about Dystopias are very popular right now. Some of the new dystopian novels feel like “read-alikes.” They’re very similar to one another. But What’s Left of Me is so unique and so interesting that it’s certainly a “must read.”

What’s Left of Me takes place in an alternate universe. It’s the United States, but it’s not as we know it. The US was once at war with the rest of the world and now it is a very isolationist country with no contact with other countries. This is interesting, but it’s not the most interesting thing about What’s Left of Me. In this alternate world, you see, everyone is born with two souls.

It’s normal to be born with two souls, each of which is named separately and has their own personality. It’s expected that at around the age of five or so, however, that one personality will become dominant and the other will naturally fade away. This is called “settling” and those who settle are normal while those who do not are considered mentally ill and potentially dangerous. No one knows what happens to the other soul that disappears. It often feels in the story that while it’s considered normal to settle, it’s also very sad that it happens, too.

The main characters are Addie and Eva who share a body. Addie is the dominant soul and Eva was supposed to fade away—but she didn’t. The book is narrated by Eva who watches the world out of Addie’s eyes, conscious, alive, but unable to control anything in the world around her. Eva and Addie have convinced most of the world that Eva is gone. The two soul sisters talk to each other, share dreams, occasionally bicker and always help one another.

Addie and Eva’s secret is revealed by a schoolmate who has also secretly not settled. She has both of her personalities and so does her brother. They get Addie and Eva involved in helping Eva gain more control of their body and her future. As Eva grows stronger, both she and Addie are put into more and more danger.

While many aspects of What’s Left of Me may seem initially confusing, Zhang explains and describes the world in the book well enough that the reader can identify and understand everything. The struggle for identity and fighting the loss of self is a theme that we can all identify with. The characters are likeable and realistic.

This book is the first part in a series, but there isn’t a cliff-hanger at the end. If you’re looking for some new Sci-Fi with a distinctive twist, this book is for you. 

Check out the downloadable eBook at the El Paso Public Library.