Shingaling: A Wonder Story

Based on what I can see from the Goodreads reviews, I hold an unpopular opinion when I say Shingaling was my favorite Wonder short story! Perhaps I'm biased because I enjoyed reading from a girl's point of view, and it had dancing, but I really liked this one. Shingaling is Charlotte Cody's perspective on the first year of middle school at Beecher Prep. Charlotte was one of the students selected to be part of Auggie's "welcoming committee", though she doesn't really carry this out throughout the school year. She's one of the kids who was nice enough, but didn't try to approach or befriend him at all. Charlotte is like a lot of middle school girls, and that's why I really liked this story. Her growth throughout the story was subtle, unlike Julian and Chris, who very obviously grew as characters during their short stories. I think this subtlety is due to the unchanging lunch tables: which sounds crazy, I know, but that felt like a hidden metaphor. It doesn't appear as though anything is changing on the surface, when in reality, Charlotte grew from a girl who cared too much about her reputation and kiiiind of wanted to be 'popular', to a true friend. I think a lot of middle school girls are have a Charlotte mindset, but they either turn out to be Savannas or... not-Savannas. What would be ideal was if everyone was a Summer, but that's not going to happen, because as Ximena says, Summer's a saint. Most people just can't be that nice. (Sorry, I realize I'm referencing a lot of names, but that's the best way to describe it). Since we can't all be like Summer, we should at least strive to be like Charlotte at the end of this story. As a warning, Charlotte's short story doesn't have anything to do with the Wonder story. There are small parts that overlap, but for the most part it's her own life (girl drama included). This might be a disappointment to some, but I was actually relieved. I don't think it's realistic to assume that Auggie's arrival at middle school touched everyone in a deep and powerful way. For most people, it was probably like Charlotte: they overcame their judgemental attitudes towards him. They treated him like another human being. That's all. I liked the "finding Gordy Johnson" subplot, I liked seeing Ximena's character in more depth, I liked learning more about Summer, and I liked Charlotte. It's a bit unrealistic that Ximena had a little brother with down syndrome (everyone in the Wonder world seems to have quirks and Special Events like this - Maya has her dots, Chris had that car accident, Julian's grandma has her childhood love story, Julian's got his nightmares, etc.) because I feel like Ximena should have treated Auggie a lot better if she had an inkling about what he was going through. But these are just nitpicky complaints. Also!! I loved the sleepover scene. Yay! This review is a very jumbled way of me saying that Shingaling is a great read for middle school girls and I really enjoyed it. Thanks to R.J. Palacio for writing another wonderful addition to this series!

4.5/5