Beginner’s Pluck
As a child, Raquel aspired to be an artist or a writer. Deciding she’d make a better living through art, she became a graphic designer, but has always written. None of her ideas materialised.
“Five years ago, I was out with my children when we saw a girl with a severe facial abnormality. My young son started to cry with fright, and the older one looked shell-shocked. I pushed the stroller away, and thought, ‘what should I have done’? I wondered what life must be like for that little girl; for her mother and sister,” she says. Raquel started writing Wonder that evening, and the characters arrived fully formed. “It was as if I was reporting the things that happened.” The book has inspired a Random House, anti-bullying, choose kind, website.
Who is RJ Palacio?
Date/place of birth: Jul 13, 1963/New York City.
Education: Parson’s School of Design, New York.
Home: Brooklyn, New York.
Family: Married with two sons, aged 15 and 8.
The Day Job: Children’s book director of Workman Publishing, and graphic designer.
Hobbies: “Playing the guitar; hanging out with my kids and husband.”
Favourite Writers: Philip Pullman; Cormac McCarthy; Tolstoy; Tolkien.
Second Novel: “I’m not talking about it yet. But it’s not a sequel.”
Top Writing Tip: “Don’t get intimidated about writing a book. Just write a page at a time.”
Web: www.RJPalacio.com.
Twitter: @rjpalacio.
THE DEBUT
Wonder. Doubleday, €17.15; Kindle, €9.97
August Pullman wants to be ordinary. But he was born with a horrific facial abnormality, and, to protect him, has been schooled at home. Now he’s ten, and his parents decide it’s time for him to join his peers. Will his classmates accept him? Wonder follows him through a year of school life, where he is bullied, but finds friends, too.
The Verdict: This crossover book made me weep. Kindness wins out in the end.
— Interviewed by Sue Leonard
