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Wonder
Everything changes for twelve-year-old Jessica when she enters junior high school and finds herself a social outcast, ignored by all her former friends
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
3 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Vail
57Ìýbooks446ÌýfollowersBirth
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)
Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.
Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.
Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.
As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.
Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.
Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)
Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.
Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.
Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.
As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.
Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.
Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 27, 2012
This was one of my favorite books when I was younger.. I still think about it today and I crack up!
March 11, 2025
this was my first "teenage" read, i think i was in 5th/6th grade, to this day i reference this book - changed my love of reading to more substantial stories from goosebumps and babysitters club, i re-read this book easily 20x, it helped me through middle school, and 'i hope that someday, my kids will find some meaning in it - even if its just to see a glimpse into 1990s life.
July 6, 2018
This is about the insecurities and changing social dynamics of a girl entering middle school. Another book of the same title is similar in setting and theme, but told with much more heart and significance. However, this story is much more relatable to most people.
February 6, 2019
I read this book about fifty times in middle school. I need to revisit.
April 12, 2020
One of my favorite books when I was in 6th grade.
January 21, 2024
Read this book as a preteen and came across it again in my 40s, I had to purchase to own AND re-read! Now passing it along to my 12yo 🙃
January 3, 2013
"Wonder," by Rachel Vail is about a seventh grade girl named Jessica who's former best friend, Sheila ditches her to join a group of five girls who all dress alike. All six of the girls wear three barrettes and their group is very exclusive. On top of being invisible to Sheila, the group is now calling her "Wonder," after her polka dotted dress that she wore, which looks like Wonder Bread. Jessica's new name is sticking, making her very unpopular. She sits alone at lunch, she doesn't have any friends, and she is being left out of parties. To her surprise, Conor O'Malley, a boy that she likes and also a boy who likes her back, becomes her boyfriend. He is one of the only people who hangs out with her. To make friends, she realizes that she has to get the crowd on her side, so she dresses up as Wonder Bread for Halloween. The kids in her grade start to like her more because she can laugh at herself. This book reminds me of another book I read, called "The Secret Language of Girls" because in it, a girl named Kate is left by her best friend Marylin, who goes to a popular group, leaving Kate to find new friends. I thought that this book was a good example of some experiences that could happen to girls in middle school. I really recommend this book to middle schoolers.
ACADEMIC HONESTY--By pasting this statement, I am indicating that I read the book, and the information on this page is accurate.
ACADEMIC HONESTY--By pasting this statement, I am indicating that I read the book, and the information on this page is accurate.
July 25, 2012
Rachel Vail was another one of my favorite authors growing up. If you like Judy Blume you will like Rachel Vail. This is a story about a girl who is entering junior high and being all excited for it. She bought a new dress to wear to school that was white with red, blue and yellow polka dots on it. On the first day, she finds out her best friend is now in the "popular" crowd and they make fun her calling her "Wonder" because her dress looks like the Wonder bread wrapper. She learns how to deal with being an outcast and gets her first boyfriend. It's a fun cute story about junior high and the hell it can be.
May 3, 2014
I often lament the lack of "malt-shop" books for today's youth, but I guess they are just geared more toward the middle grades (the fifteen year olds are busy shooting up and buying Lanvin. My high school years sucked). This was a nice little book about a girl dealing with cliques and her exclusion as well as first love. Bonus points for some relatively normal families. Truly enjoyed this one.
January 17, 2013
This book is about this girl who was just starting junior high and hated it right when she got there.She was friends with this girl named Shelia when she was younger, bt then one day Shelia ditched her for this other group of friends. She wondered why she did this and then she got a boyfriend and a new group of friends and life was starting to get better for her.
June 24, 2013
i read this over and over when i was in middle school. just discovered it's the same rachel vail who's still writing for teens! going to try to find again for a reread.
re-read june 2013. this book is kind of dated, but so much of the story still rings true: how fickle but important friendships can be in middle school and how hard it is to tell parents what's going on.
re-read june 2013. this book is kind of dated, but so much of the story still rings true: how fickle but important friendships can be in middle school and how hard it is to tell parents what's going on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2009
This book accurately captures the sheer horror of being a (white middle class) girl in middle school. No great depth here, and I don't think the plot is particularly engaging to anyone over the age of about 14, but still, if you want a picture of that particular universe, she nailed it. Painful.
June 25, 2008
great book!! and i like the paradoy (or whatever it's called) to "do-over". really funny.
June 12, 2009
3.5 stars
June 14, 2009
One of my absolute favorite books as a pre-teen.
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August 29, 2009What I remember most is Jessica taping a penny to her bellybutton to reverse her outie. hahha
November 6, 2009
This is book is hilarious! I think it might be the best book ever written for preteen girls. I still laugh so hard I almost pee in my pants every time I read it.
September 21, 2010
Lots of kissing and odd "love" games.
September 25, 2010
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! It is super cute and an easy read. I don't remember when I bought this book but I know it was about 15 years ago. I read it today at work just for fun and loved it again!
February 11, 2011
A fast read.
August 28, 2011
I read this at least three times circa 1993. Awkward junior high stories really hit home when I was awkward and about to go into junior high.
August 16, 2012
Very short and easy to read! Good for readers that like short and entertaining books!! :)
January 8, 2014
My favorite book as a young girl!
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October 24, 2014I loved this book when I was in middle school. I don't remember much about it other than that it made me feel cool and mature even though my own life was quite different from the characters'...
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