Part 1: August

The story opens with a 10-year-old boy named August telling us about himself.  From the second paragraph we know there's something different about August, more commonly known as Auggie, that he doesn't like.

"If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all."

How sad is that?  We have this little 10-year-old boy who is so displeased with his appearance that he wishes people didn't notice him. Usually, little kids crave attention. They want people to notice them and watch everything that they do. It's no wonder that August was incredibly nervous about going to school for the first time his 5th grade year.

Although, despite Auggie's feelings of worry and nervousness, school didn't seem so bad at first. Sure he got weird looks in the hallways from some kids, but things weren't all bad. A magnificent young girl named Summer sat with him at lunch the very first day of school and treated him just like any other kid, and Auggie thought he had found a friend in Jack Will with whom he has almost all his classes--until one day he overhears a mummy talking in homeroom on Halloween and Auggie can tell by the voice that it's Jack Will.

"I've thought about this alot, and I really think if I looked like him, seriously, I think I'd kill myself."

Oh. My. Gosh. I know Jack Will didn't know Auggie was listening to his conversation, but how could he say that?? My heart broke for Auggie in this moment--to finally start feeling like he was being accepted by people and making friends and then he hears someone who he thought he could trust and who liked him say something so...so mean. Auggie was so upset he didn't even go trick-or-treating that night. A little boy, whose favorite holiday is Halloween, didn't get to go trick-or-treating. Thus ends Part 1.

 

Don't let the image scare you--this was Auggie's Halloween costume that he wore to school. The Bleeding Scream!