R.J. Palacio
Raquel Jaramillo was born in 1963 in New York City and grew up in the Washington Heights neighbourhood of Manhattan, the daughter of Colombian immigrants. She studied fine arts at the Parsons School of Design and had a long career as a graphic designer and art director in book publishing. She published Wonder under the pen name R.J. Palacio in 2012 as her debut novel, drawing on a moment in her own life when she encountered a child with a facial difference and had to confront her own impulse to shield her young sons from discomfort.
Wonder tells the story of ten-year-old August Pullman, known as Auggie, who was born with a severe craniofacial condition and starts fifth grade at Beecher Prep in New York City after years of home-schooling. The novel follows his journey of navigating friendship, cruelty, acceptance, and belonging. Palacio structures the novel with remarkable formal ingenuity, giving the narrative to multiple characters and perspectives, so that Auggie’s experience is illuminated through the eyes of his sister, his classmates, and his teachers. This polyphonic structure allows the novel to explore not only the experience of the person who is different but also the moral experience of those who witness difference and must choose how to respond.
Wonder was an immediate and overwhelming success, becoming a New York Times bestseller and remaining on the list for over 300 weeks. It sold more than eight million copies in the United States alone and has been translated into over 45 languages. The Choose Kind movement it inspired, encouraging children and schools to practice conscious kindness, took on a life of its own in schools across the world. A film adaptation was released in 2017 starring Jacob Tremblay, Julia Roberts, and Owen Wilson.
Palacio has received the Christopher Award and the Schneider Family Book Award, among numerous state children’s choice awards. She followed Wonder with companion novels 365 Days of Wonder (2014), Auggie and Me (2015), and White Bird (2019). Her contribution to children’s literature, demonstrating that fiction can build genuine empathy and transform school cultures, is profound and widely documented by educators worldwide.
