It was while sitting next to a young girl with a facial deformity at an ice cream shop that author R.J. Palacio found inspiration for the #1 New York Times Bestseller “Wonder.” What felt at the time like an uncomfortable instance of parenting (Palacio bolted from the shop as her three year old son, frightened by the girl’s craniofacial difference, began to cry) soon became the impetus behind the fictional young adult novel that follows the experiences of Auggie, a boy entering fifth grade with a facial difference.

“What I wish I’d done was turn to that little girl and started a conversation and let my son know that there was nothing to be afraid of,” Palacio said. “As I left the scene, I was so afraid that his tears would hurt her feelings, but it never occurred to me that my leaving was just making things worse. I just started thinking about what it must be like for that girl, for her parents, to face a world everyday that doesn’t know how to face you back.”

Palacio, who delivered a talk on Wednesday to a packed Kresge Auditorium, never expected her writing to receive the widespread praise that it has. Recipient of the 2014 Maine Student Book Award, among others, “Wonder” has become a literary mainstay in elementary and middle school classrooms across the country.

Brought to the College by Bowdoin’s literary and arts magazine, The Quill in coordination with the Education Department, Palacio also worked with an upper-level Bowdoin Education class called Educating All Students.

“For our education students in particular who are looking to go and work in schools, this is a really critical piece of it—to be thinking about how students who many have different learning needs and physical needs are incorporated and become successful learners in a school setting,” Program Placement and Outreach Coordinator of the Education Department Sarah Chingos said. “All students deserve to have a safe classroom environment, so part of it is to open conversation, about how we create a safe space for all learners.”

Although the book centers around the realities of living with a facial difference, its implications extend beyond the realms of noticeable or physical insecurity, making it a relatable and widely celebrated piece.

“I think my writing of ‘Wonder’ was my way of trying to get kids to see that the answer to every dilemma in life should always err on the side of kindness,” Palacio said. “If everybody goes by the golden rule, if everybody tries to be a little kinder than is necessary, I really do believe the world would be a better place.” 

Despite the novel’s popularity among the elementary and middle school demographic, its themes are universal in their scope, making “Wonder” still relevant to a college audience. 
Sold in England and other countries as adult fiction, the novel has sparked the Choose Kind movement, a campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of empathy and tolerance.

“Even if they’re cliche, that doesn’t mean [themes of growing up] aren’t important,” Quill member Clay Starr ’19 said. “Just because something isn’t nuanced or technical, that doesn’t take away from the message it gives.”

Although the book centers around the realities of living with a facial difference, its implications extend beyond the realms of noticeable or physical insecurity, making it a relatable and widely celebrated piece.

“It’s a book about a child with a facial difference, but it’s also a book about being an outsider. It’s a book about not fitting in,” Palacio said. “[Auggie’s] difference is a very obvious one that the whole world can see immediately, but there are other characters in the book that tell a story of their own as well. Every character has something they wish they could change, or that makes them feel different. It’s a book about exploring differences and how to overcome those differences, tolerance, kindness.”