Wonder Read Online Free PDF

shake.
    “That boy Julian seemed especially nice,” Mom said.
    “Oh, no, he was the least nice. I liked Jack, though. He was nice. I thought his name was Jack Will but it’s just Jack.”
    “Wait, maybe I’m getting them confused. Which one was the one with the dark hair that was brushed forward?”
    “Julian.”
    “And he wasn’t nice?”
    “No, not nice.”
    “Oh.” She thought about this for a second. “Okay, so is he the kind of kid who’s one way in front of grown-ups and another way in front of kids?”
    “Yeah, I guess.”
    “Ah, hate those,” she answered, nodding.
    “He was like, ‘So, August, what’s the deal with your face?’ ” I said, looking at Daisy the whole time. “ ‘Were you in a fire or something?’ ”
    Mom didn’t say anything. When I looked up at her, I could tell she was completely shocked.
    “He didn’t say it in a mean way,” I said quickly. “He was just asking.”
    Mom nodded.
    “But I really liked Jack,” I said. “He was like, ‘Shut up, Julian!’ And Charlotte was like, ‘You’re so rude, Julian!’ ”
    Mom nodded again. She pressed her fingers on her forehead like she was pushing against a headache.
    “I’m so sorry, Auggie,” she said quietly. Her cheeks were bright red.
    “No, it’s okay, Mom, really.”
    “You don’t have to go to school if you don’t want, sweetie.”
    “I want to,” I said.
    “Auggie …”
    “Really, Mom. I want to.” And I wasn’t lying.

First-Day Jitters
    Okay, so I admit that the first day of school I was so nervous that the butterflies in my stomach were more like pigeons flying around my insides. Mom and Dad were probably a little nervous, too, but they acted all excited for me, taking pictures of me and Via before we left the house since it was Via’s first day of school, too.
    Up until a few days before, we still weren’t sure I would be going to school at all. After my tour of the school, Mom and Dad had reversed sides on whether I should go or not. Mom was now the one saying I shouldn’t go and Dad was saying I should. Dad had told me he was really proud of how I’d handled myself with Julian and that I was turning into quite the strong man. And I heard him tell Mom that he now thought she had been right all along. But Mom, I could tell, wasn’t so sure anymore. When Dad told her that he and Via wanted to walk me to school today, too, since it was on the way to the subway station, Mom seemed relieved that we would all be going together. And I guess I was, too.
    Even though Beecher Prep is just a few blocks from our house, I’ve only been on that block a couple of times before. In general, I try to avoid blocks where there are lots of kids roaming around. On our block, everybody knows me and I know everybody. I know every brick and every tree trunk and every crack in the sidewalk. I know Mrs. Grimaldi, the lady who’s always sitting by her window, and the old guy who walks up and down the street whistling like a bird. I know the deli on the corner where Mom gets our bagels, and the waitresses at the coffee shop who all callme “honey” and give me lollipops whenever they see me. I love my neighborhood of North River Heights, which is why it was so strange to be walking down these blocks feeling like it was all new to me suddenly. Amesfort Avenue, a street I’ve been down a million times, looked totally different for some reason. Full of people I never saw before, waiting for buses, pushing strollers.
    We crossed Amesfort and turned up Heights Place: Via walked next to me like she usually does, and Mom and Dad were behind us. As soon as we turned the corner, we saw all the kids in front of the school—hundreds of them talking to each other in little groups, laughing, or standing with their parents, who were talking with other parents. I kept my head way down.
    “Everyone’s just as nervous as you are,” said Via in my ear. “Just remember that this is everyone’s first day of school.