Is it worth a Redbox: Wonder

As a lifelong educator- with many of those years spent in elementary school, I have seen the cover for the book Wonder for many years.  In Georgia, Wonder was one of the literacy books for 5th grade that every 5th grader would need to read.  For some reason, when my son was in 5th grade, they chose a different book while he was in 5th grade so he never got to read it.  Then when we moved to Florida, they did not have a 5th grade book requirement and my daughter didn't read it either.

I heard about the movie coming out, but I didn't have any real desire to see it.  Honestly, a movie starring Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson is kryptonite to me.  I had no thought of seeing it.  But then my daughter, as she is known to do, convinced me to rent the movie at Redbox.

And surprisingly, even with those 2 actors, the movie is very good.  It tells the story of Augie, a very bright young man who was born with a genetic defect that makes him look different.  Often times he wears a mask or a space helmet to hide his face from others.  Even though his family loves him, they are super protective of him as well and when the family makes a decision to send him to public school after years of being home schooled, there is rightful sense of fear.

And Augie's first few days are rough, he has a hard time making friends and some of the so called friends he has are not to be trusted.  The movie gives a fair look at all the people who inhabit the orbit around Augie: his parents, his sister, and even his "friends" at school.

Honestly the movie is wonderful.  So Wonderful, I went out and bought the book for my daughter so she could compare the similarities and differences between the two. Plus, Wonder has several books related to the main book which my daughter is also reading.

So is it worth a Redbox? Absolutely!  A great family film with a lesson about being kind to others- something we all can be better at.

The Producer