Comparing myself to them...

        I would like to say that I think I could be as strong as Auggie, but the truth is, I don't think I could. Simply being bullied about my weight sent me in to a suicidal spiral in my youth. I could barely stand to look at myself in the mirror because I felt like my body was disgusting. Sometimes, I still do. But I have moved past a time of caring about the harsh words of bullies. No matter how old you are, words hurt. There is a phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." I am not sure where this came from, but whoever created it was very wrong.
        It is hurtful words that lead to children taking their lives at a young age. I was almost a statistic myself.I found this image and thought it would be good to share.

 I'm not sure this is the easiest concept to achieve though. I know that August's biggest bully in school is Julian. I had a bully like him myself. Two actually.  Now that we are adults, I am not even sure if they remember the way they treated me back then, but I do. It takes one event to make an impression and there were so many bad things happening with them that I will never forget. The rumors, the looks, tearing my clothing, hitting me, mocking me... These memories haunt me still. But I have moved on. I would like to share another image, this one to allow some comedic relief... Keep Calm and Carry On!

 If there is anything you should learn by reading Wonder, it is to be kind. Sometimes a kind word or action can make a huge difference in someone's life. You may not think something major of it, but one friend is all it really takes to make someone feel better about their life. Going along with the "trending phrases," Keep Calm and don't be a Julian. 

Getting back to the theme of this blog, I would like to think about the characters more. I think the character I most closely relate to is Via, for several reasons. I am fiercely protective of my younger brother. He is also a husky child and he used to be picked on for it in school. I make sure that I look out for him. I also don't like to be put in the spotlight. I had two really close friends in high school who I grew away from in a way similar to her situation. All that being said, I think the main reason I feel like I relate to Via is that she has always felt like her brother is the spotlight of her parents' attention. I was a sick child from a young age until the doctors discovered. And until my brother came along, I was the only child. I was spoiled. Once my parents had my brother though (I was 6) I was kind of pushed away. The new baby got all the attention. While my brother didn't have problems like August did, he was still mom's favorite. He got so many things that I never did. When he came along, mom stopped babying me and gave all her attention to him. I'm not sad about it anymore, but I think that is one of the reasons I felt like I could completely understand Via's character. 

There are so many wonderful people in Auggie's life. We all just have to bypass the bad things to see how much good there really is in our lives. I can relate people in my life to almost every character in this book. I love the artwork of the characters. The concept of giving each of them one eye was really neat. There are many lessons to be learned from this book if we only take the time to read it. There will always be people in the world like Julian and his parents, but we could all strive to be a little more like August or Summer.