Oh the Feels!

        Excuse my use of a new "trending" phrase, but after reading the entirety of  Wonder by R.J. .Palacio, this is my first response. Throughout the novel, we are introduced to August Pullman. I laughed with him, cried with him, and was scared with him. I shared in his hopes, dreams, wishes, sadness and fears. Books like this one are the reason I really love to read today. Sometimes it is really nice to just escape reality and live in someone else's world.
           One thing I will say though, is that August Pullman's world is full of hardships. That poor child was born with such sever facial deformity that I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. It hurts my heart to hear about children being bullied though. I was a victim of bullying myself. My deformity was nothing like Auggie's though. I was an overweight child. From first grade on I was bullied for my weight. People would tell me that I should just kill myself for being so fat. I think that the Halloween chapter in the story is what hit me with emotional impact the hardest.
          When Jack said he would kill himself if he looked like August, I had to put the book down and have a good cry. It took me almost thirty minutes to gain control of myself again. I was bullied like he was. It may not have been for the same reason, but it broke my heart to know that he was sharing struggles that I endured. And his is because of the way he was born! At least my situation was changeable. My mom could have put me on a diet and helped me get to a normal weight (which has never happened,) but August had no choice in the way he looked.

          Watching this video even brought tears to my eyes after reading the book. R.J. Palacio does a wonderful job of portraying situations that are hard to acknowledge. Even though I have been through it myself, it is a wonder what children have to face in school.