The Julian Chapter by R J Palacio

If you know me at all, you know that I fell in love with the book Wonder and passed it to so many people who passed it to other people, etc. In this book, Palacio told the story from different viewpoints, but she did not give the bully's story.  This is his story.  I have to give it to her.  I felt empathy for Julian, the mean kid, even in the original book.  But, I always wondered what was behind his actions.  I found out in this slim book.  I loved the relationship between Julian and his grandmother.

I have read several books about grandmothers this summer.  I had two wonderful women as grandmothers, but I only got to know one of them.  She played a huge part in shaping me to be the person I am today.  She read the newspaper every day.  She loved to read and tell stories.  It is no surprise that I love both as well.  But, back to my thoughts on this book...

When I was a kid, I listened to Paul Harvey.  He was a great orator who told wonderful stories over the radio.  Now, we always had a television--I am not that old.  But, I loved listening to him.  He would tell a part of a story--then he had a segment that I really loved.  He would say, "Now, for the rest of the story".  This is a phenomenal concept because so many times we make assumptions and judgments based on the little that we know and even on what we think we know.  I love point of view books because I feel as though they give more of the story.  Because we only see portions of a story, and when we can look at a different viewpoint, it tells more about life in general.  If more people took the time to do that, we could not help to choose kind.  Which, is the theme of the book Wonder.  Well played, Palacio, well played.

Book 17