How Different Is ‘Wonder’ From the Bestselling Book?

The big picture

• wonder
  is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about acceptance and imperfections, based on RJ Palacio's award-winning novel.
• The film adaptation differs slightly from the book, which somewhat diminishes the impact of the story.
• Despite these changes,
  wonder
  it has been praised for its fidelity to the source material and has spawned multiple spin-off books and sequels.

2017 wonder it's the epitome of a coming-of-age movie. It is the story of a boy named August Pullman (Jacob Tremblay), a boy whose facial deformity often causes people to stare at him and bully him, but with the support of his family, father Nate (Owen Wilson), mother Isabel (Julia Roberts), and sister Via (Izabela Vidovic) — prepares to enter school for the first time after being homeschooled for many years. It is not easy for him or for Via, who feels that all the attention of his parents goes to his brother. While August struggles to make friends and handle hurtful comments, Via nurtures a relationship with a boy named Justin (Nadji Jeter) joining the theater and telling him that he is an only child.

The film is a heartfelt story of (as Via says in the film) why you can't blend in when you were born to stand out. It's about the imperfections and flaws we have and how they integrate us. The book the movie is based on is just as wonderful (see what I did there?) as its movie adaptation. RJ Palacio's wonder was the winner of a number of awards, including the 2015 Mark Twain Readers Award and the 2014 Bluestem Award, was in News from New York bestseller list for eighty weeks and spent thirty-six in the number one slot, spawning multiple spin-off books and sequels. One of these other books, a graphic novel titled White Bird and starring Helen Mirrenhas a film adaptation that will hit theaters in October of this year. wonder It is often praised for its fidelity to the source material, but how faithful is it really?

“Wonder” slightly changes the role of summer in the book

One of the first children to show August kindness at school is Summer (Millie Davis). After August has a fight with his friend Jack (Noah Jupe), sits down with him for lunch, and they become fast friends when August gives Jack the cold shoulder. However, in the book, Summer was there from the beginning! He sat with August at lunch on the first day of school and there are several scenes after the interaction in class, visiting each other's houses and playing together. She's also more vocal in the book about her reasons for being friends with August, constantly showing discomfort with people calling her a “saint” for dating him, insisting that she's only friends with August because she wants to be- ho, not because it has to be or was asked.

Changing her role in the film was somewhat detrimental, in this writer's opinion. Although she still befriends August, and we still have the memorable scene of her getting angry when August implies that she's only sitting with him because Mr. Tushman (Mandy Patinkin) asked him, we don't get it until August has trouble with Jack, who was depicted as his only friend. It comes across as a more regrettable gesture than it does in the novel.

The book has more points of view than 2017's “Wonder.”

wonder, both novel and film, are divided into multiple points of view of the characters. Of course, the view of August is the most prominent as the main character, but we also see the view of Via, Jack, Summer and Miranda (Danielle Rose Russell) stories, which offer a comprehensive look at the narrative. There are also a number of Palacio's novels found in the book Auggie and Me: Three Wonderful Stories which provide some additional character stories, such as Julian (Bryce Gheiser), Charlotte (Elle McKinnon), and Christopher (a friend of August who is not mentioned in the film).

The film doesn't include Julian, Charlotte, or Christopher's points of view, nor does Justin's, which brought much more context to Via's part of the story. While Julian, Charlotte, and Christopher are technically included in a different novel, the story through their eyes is a good basis for what happened before the events of wonderand having Julian's story would be a good precursor White Bird, which is about his grandmother's experiences during World War II. Maybe we'll see the Julian side when the movie hits theaters in October.

The movie “Wonder” does not include August's hearing aids

It's a short scene in the novel, but August has to get hearing aids and mentions that he knows he'll need them for a while. Because of the shape of his ears, he needs a strap to keep the hearing aids in place, and laments that he looks like Lobot de War of the galaxies. After trying the hearing aids and realizing that he can hear much better, he is happy to wear them, and even happier when he goes to school afterwards and no one teases him. Instead, his friends tell him he looks cool, like a secret agent, and that they're glad he can hear better.

It's a nice scene that shows people's changing attitudes around August, and how the behavior of some of his peers continues to affect him even after the bullying has “stopped”. It would have been a good moment to see this in the film, as it is important to see August experiencing the kindness of others when he is not feeling performative.

Key scenes from the book are not in 2017's “Wonder.”

wonderas a novel, it does something brilliant. It works with short cutscenes and this allows it to bounce around from moment to moment and use many different scenes to explore August and the people around him. This is especially important later in the novel when August's classmates begin to befriend him. A good example is the scene in “Auggie Doll” where August makes a joke about the Uglydolls being based on him and a classmate brings him an Uglydoll keychain the next day with a note saying that the August is the cutest Uglydoll ever. It's short and simple, but it says a lot about how August's experience changes and how people start trying to get to know him instead of avoiding him. It also helps develop August's personality, something that felt flat at times in the film.

There are also August's two teachers, Mr. Brown (Daveed Diggs), who is the classroom teacher in the movie but the English teacher in the book, and Ms. Petosa (Ali Liebert), who is the science teacher in the movie, but the classroom teacher in the book. August spends much less time with them in the film and we miss out on some great moments of the staff leading by example.

Generally, wonder is a fairly faithful adaptation of its original material. It may move some things around or take some things out that could have added to the film and given August a little more agency, but it hits all the major notes and sticks to some of the novel's most memorable lines . Movies only have so much time, after all. Not everything can make the cut. But even with the changes, wonder manages to remain an uplifting story of friendship, family and acceptance. However, be sure to check out the novels for a little extra awesomeness in your day.

wonder is available to watch on Netflix in the US

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