Wonder Discussion Questions (Summer)

1. Why do you think the author chose the quote she did as this
section’s epigraph?

‘You are beautiful no matter what they say, Words can't bring you
down, You are beautiful in every single way, Yes, words can't bring you down —Christina Aguilera,
"Beautiful" .’ These words are to describe Summer’s personality. She was criticized a lot for who
she is, and who she befriended. This was to remind her to stay true to herself. This also might be
because Auggie is being bullied by people calling him a zombie kid and a freak. The quote
represents Summer’s point of view of thinking that Auggie is beautiful in every way no matter what
people say about him.

2. How does Summer see August? Give evidence from the book to support your answer.

Summer sees Auggie as a nice kid as she said in the start of the story “Because he’s a nice kid!”.
Although Summer did ‘admit August’s face takes some getting used to...But other than that, he’s
pretty nice.’ shows that she sees him as a normal kid and thinks that other people shouldn’t treat
Auggie differently.

3. “Savanna is probably the most popular girl in the school. All the boys like her. All the girls
want to be friends with her. She was the first girl in the grade to actually have a
‘boyfriend’.”

Why is “boyfriend” in quotation marks here?

“Boyfriend” is in quotation marks because Summer knows that the “boyfriend“ that Savanna has is not
the “boyfriend” that grown-ups have, but is only to show off her popularity and wants herself to look
older for having a “boyfriend”.

1
 4. Why does Summer leave the party early?

Summer leaves the party early because she feels uncomfortable when she is hanging out with Savanna.
She keeps on pushing Summer to talk to Julian and attempts to make them date each other. Besides,
Savanna also tells her not to spend so much time with August. This bothers Summer because to her,
August is her friend and she doesn’t want anyone to be cruel and rude to him. She finds the topic not
suitable for her and she doesn’t fit in the group. Summer feels annoyed. She tries to avoid meeting up
with Julian and calls her mother to leave the party eventually.

5. “It was only nine-thirty. The Halloween Parade was in full swing down Amesfort Avenue.
Huge crowds everywhere. Everyone was in costume. Skeletons. Pirates. Princesses.
Vampires. Superheroes.

But not one unicorn.”

Why is the last sentence emphasized here?

Summer originally wanted to go to the halloween parade as a unicorn, but was pressured into going
to Savannah’s halloween party instead. What was even worse was that she couldn’t even wear a
costume, because the popular kids thought that they were ‘too cool’ for costumes. So when she left
Savannah’s house, she was disappointed that she wasn’t wearing a costume and having fun. The
costume she wanted to wear was a unicorn, but she couldn't see any unicorns in the parade, that was
what made her feel even more disappointed, and let her come to the realization that she doesnt fit in
with the popular crowd.

6. Discuss some ways that Summer does not fit in with the rest of the kids at school.

Summer is more down-to-earth, unlike the other kids, and didn’t change from the transition between
elementary and middle school. ‘One of the things I'm not loving about this year is how a lot of the kids
are acting like they're too grown-up to play things anymore.’ Summer also made friends with Auggie
when he was lonely. Whereas other kids call him Zombie Kid and bully him, Summer stands up for him,

2
something no other kid at her school does.

7. Is Summer more of a flat character or a round character? Explain your answer.

Summer is more of a flat character. She struggles with the decision to choose between friends, but
this struggle is not significant to the story. Other than this section she does not often contribute to
conflicts. Throughout the story she is always kind and stand by August’s side. There is no obvious
character development.

8. Imagine that you work at the book publisher for Wonder as an assistant editor. Your editor is
considering removing this part from the book. Write a short note to your editor discussing
whether this section should be kept or removed. Is it necessary for the book? If some facts
are important, can they be put somewhere else? What, if anything, does it add to the novel?

__Dear Editor, _____

I think that this part of the novel should be kept in the book.

It is important to read the story from Summer's point of view at this stage in the novel; she
is the only kid at school who has genuinely been Auggie's friend since the beginning. While some
of the other children are portrayed as judgmental, insensitive, and outright harsh, Summer’s case is
wonderful and compassionate. Summer demonstrates the ideal way to treat someone that may be
different. Summer doesn't shy away from Auggie's face because it's strange, nor does she stay away
from him because everyone else is doing it. Going along with the crowd is a rather insignificant
issue to her than it is to her peers, Summer decides to be a friend to Auggie, taking a key role in
helping him after the Halloween incident.

But Summer is in middle school, and in middle school, fitting in and becoming popular always
seems to be the most major objective. Summer's spending too much time with Auggie risks her

3
opportunity to blend into the rest of her classmates, as it becomes obvious once Summer attends a
Halloween Party. This situation shows readers that being nice isn’t that easy after all.

All in all, because this is a story of compassion, I think that readers would enjoy reading this part
of the story, so you should not edit this chapter out of the book.

Best Regards,
Macy