R. J. Palacio

WONDER IS NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JULIA ROBERTS AND JACOB TREMBLAY! Over 6 million people have read the #1 New York Times bestseller Wonder—the book that inspired the Choose Kind movement—and have fallen in love with Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. Last year readers were given a special look at another side of his story with The Julian Chapter, and now they'll get a peek at Auggie's life before Beecher Prep, with an exclusive new short story told entirely from the point of view of Christopher, Auggie's oldest friend. Christopher was Auggie's best friend from the time they were babies until his family moved away; he was there through all of Auggie's surgeries and heartbreaks, through bad times and good—like Star Wars marathons and dreams of traveling to Pluto together. Alternating between childhood flashbacks and the present day, an especially bad day for Christopher, Pluto is the story of two boys grown apart learning that good friendships are worth a little extra effort.

Pluto: A Wonder Story

R J Palacio

WONDER told the story of August Pullman: an ordinary kid with an extraordinary face, whose first year at school changed the lives and the perspectives of everyone around him. PLUTO looks at Auggie's story through the eyes of his best and oldest friend, Christopher: who has been with Auggie right from the start, shares his love of space, Star Wars and the planets, and knows better than most that being part of Auggie's life comes with its challenges. Poignant, surprising and utterly heartwarming, this is a must-read for the thousands of readers who loved WONDER.

Hannah Yang

Pluto is the story of Christopher, Auggie's oldest best friend. I think it's interesting that R.J. Palacio chose to write a short on Christopher's perspective, since he's not really present for the majority of Wonder, but more from the Wonder-world? I'm in.

I was a little disappointed in this one. The writing was fantastic as usual and R.J. Palacio does a good job delivering a middle-grade short story that is relatable and shows the growth of a character, but it didn't stand out at all. It was sadly predictable and doesn't add to the Wonder universe like The Julian Chapter did. Sure, we get to see a bit more of Auggie-before-Beecher, but for the most part it's Christopher's life.

Which is fine! I thought it was cool that we got to see how Chris and Auggie's friendship went through some rough bumps, with their childhood friends ditching them and Chris starting to understand the difficulties of being friends with Auggie. 

  Hanging out with Zack and Alex was just easy. That's when I realized why they didn't hang out with us anymore. Being friends with Auggie could be hard sometimes.

I couldn't really connect to Chris as a character, though. I don't understand why a kid so young would call his parents by their first names (what happened to "Mommy" and "Daddy", people?). I thought he was just a bit too ordinary of a kid to have a whole short story to himself. I predicted the car accident as soon as his mother was late in bringing his science paper. I knew he would end up playing with John instead of Elijah's band. I knew he and Auggie would be good in the end. It was just a bit boring; everything that happened was so obvious.

I did really like two parts, though. The first was the "Pluto" chapter, when Auggie kind of has a breakdown over the planetary status of Pluto. I liked that Auggie got so upset over something that seems irrelevant, because Auggie was presented as such a big and mature kid in Wonder (which was nice on one hand, but I wanted to see more moments like this. A kid like him has it hard. Let him cry over Pluto not being the 'littlest planet'.) 

Another was the chapter "10:52 PM", where Chris has a moment with his dad after his mother's car accident. He's feeling upset about the teenagery way he was acting in the morning, when it happened. They cry, they hug. It's predictable, but the writing here was so lovely and emotional.

  "I kept calling her Lisa," I said. "She hates when I do that. The last thing she said to me was 'Love you!' and all I answered was 'Bye, Lisa.' And I didn't even turn around!"

Anyways. Pluto was a bit of a let-down if you are looking for something to add more depth to the Wonder-verse, but as a standalone short story it has its charm. (Then again, you'd have to read it after Wonder to understand some of the things that happened, so it couldn't be a standalone) It may fall a bit flat compared to the other Wonder stories, but for those who need a bit of fluff and a quick read, it's a nice choice!

Stefanie Sugia

"That's when I realized why they didn't hang out with us anymore. Being friends with Auggie could be hard sometimes."
Pluto is yet another novella written by R.J. Palacio as an addition to her book, Wonder. This story is written in the perspective of Christopher, August's friend since they were babies. His character doesn't show up much in the book because he moved to Bridgeport with his family. In this book, R.J. Palacio takes the reader to a day in Christopher's life; in which he had to struggle with his own problems. And we'll also see the struggle he has to go through as August's friend.
"We would spend hours playing pretend games about missions to deep space, or landing on Pluto. That became our favorite planet to travel to. Pluto was our Tatooine."
Christopher and August's mother are best friends, and Christopher is already used to seeing August face since he was a baby—so he doesn't really feel weird out about it. However, as time goes, Christopher started to realize how everyone else sees August; and then he understood that August is different, unlike the other normal kids they hung out with. Christopher was there when August had to go through surgeries. Together they were obsessed with Star Wars and having dreams of traveling to Pluto. But it wasn't always easy being August's friend. And as Christopher go through a very hard day in his life, he realized the true meaning of friendship—and that good friendship worth a little extra effort.

I love how this novella takes us to a different perspective and setting than what we've seen in Wonder or even The Julian Chapter. This story only takes place in one day, but there's a lot of flashbacks involved—so the reader will get to see the history of Christopher and August's friendship. I love Christopher's character so so much. There are several heartwarming moments that made my heart melt. Indeed Christopher is not without flaws, but that's what makes his character feel believable and real to me; because I can imagine being in his shoes and acting the same way he did. In the end, I'm really glad Christopher took the decision he thought was best—although it might be hard for him. Everything about this story felt honest, heartfelt, and it definitely stirred my emotions.
"Listen, this was a scary thing that happened today. It's natural for you to be upset. When something scary like this happens, it acts like a wake-up call, you know? It makes us reassess what's important in life. Our family. Our friends. The people we love."....

Read the full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2015/0...

Pluto: A Wonder Story

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