POST #1 {W O N D E R}

On part 1, we are introduced to Auggie, the ten-year-old main character of the story, as he struggles with his physical condition during the new phase on his life. Auggie has a peculiar and uncommon face because he has suffered genetic disorders that have caused him serious facial anomalies. However, he is smart, a sensitive child, and he has the luck of being born in a cozy family who does anything for him. Auggie’s clinical and physical conditions have prevented him from going to a “normal” school, and for that reason, he has been educated at home by his mother. But now that he is ten years old, his parents think that it is time for him to get incorporated into the education system and the world outside (going to school for the first time, making new friends, and others). A difficult step for him and all the family.

"I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an XBox. Stuff like that makes me ordinary. I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.  

If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all.  I would wish that I could walk down the street without people seeing me and then doing that look-away thing.  Here's what I think: the only reason I'm not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way" (Palacio 10).


QUESTION | If you have a "normal" physical appearance, are you already normal? What is normal?