#13 in Children’s books
Wonder
- 368
- Pages
- about 7 h
- Reading time
- Film 2017
- On screen
- E. B. White Read Aloud Award for Middle Readers
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Our view
“Wonder” is warm and often funny where it could have been heavy. It follows Auggie, a boy with a facial difference, into an ordinary school for the first time, and it is clear about friendship, family and everyday unkindness without talking down to anyone. Readers who arrive after seeing the film may fall for the story again. A hopeful book for children and for the adults who read with them.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Wonder is a contemporary children's novel written by R. J. Palacio and published on 14 February 2012. It centers on August "Auggie" Pullman, a boy with significant facial differences who enters mainstream school for the first time. Palacio drew inspiration for the story both from Natalie Merchant's song "Wonder" and from an experience where her son reacted with distress upon seeing a girl with facial deformities.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen once.
- FilmWonderIMDb
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.4 across 1,057 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 88% of the weight and the score stays at 8.3 — the Children’s books average of 7.9 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.6 | 239 | 23% |
| Hardcover | 8.3 | 818 | 77% |
Frequently asked
What age is Wonder for?
Wonder sits on the Children shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 5–10. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 368 pages — shorter than 73% of the ranked books in Children’s books.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Children’s books — with scores between 7.9 and 8.1, closest to this book.
