The Julian chapter is available now on kindle at amazon.
We read Wonder as a family book group read a year or two back – it worked for Big, Small and me, and then we discussed it. If you haven’t read it, I do recommend it, for ages 9 to adult really. There’s lot in it about bullying, tolerance, bravery, understanding and differences. Auggie, the main character, has been homeschooled (US) due to his facial problems and surgeries, but his parents decide it’s time for him to try school. Not all the other children are as welcoming as you might hope, and it’s a difficult year all round.
The Julian Chapter tells the other side of the story – Julian is the child who fails to cope with Auggie at all, and is the ringleader of the opposition as it were. When he is presented just as a bully, it’s hard to feel empathy with him, but R J Palacio tells his viewpoint wonderfully, getting the voice just right of a child who is *not* just misunderstood, he has behaved badly. She pulls together the whole family to illustrate how the situation could arise, and draws it to a skilful conclusion – beware, you will need tissues.
Big summarised it beautifully – everyone has a story and every one deserves to be heard.
Go, read, enjoy. But don’t forget the tissues.
Ross Mountney says
Thanks for this. ‘Wonder’ was extraordinary so I’ll look forward to reading this too. And what a beautiful truth Big has reminded us of; ‘everyone deserves to be heard’!
Ryan Costello says
Thanks for this. I’ve been following your blog silently for a while and its been inspirational to me as a new parent and blogger. This (and others you’ve mentioned) book is being added to my to buy list. The thought of my child being bullied in the future is one of my biggest fears and angers me to think about it. I’ve got some time to learn how to channel it correctly thankfully.
Ryan
Jax Blunt says
Thanks Ryan. Bullying is a difficult topic to deal with – and the other side of it, discovering your child is bullying, can be nearly as difficult.
I’ve edited your comment to remove the link as you don’t need to leave it again, wordpress hyperlinks your name to your website when you fill the comment fields in 🙂