2017’s Wonder is the epitome of a feel good, coming-of-age movie. It’s the story of a boy named August Pullman (Jacob Tremblay), a boy whose facial deformity often causes people to stare at and bully him, but with the support of his family — father Nate (Owen Wilson), mother Isabel (Julia Roberts), and sister Via (Izabela Vidovic) — he prepares to enter school for the first time after being homeschooled for many years. It isn’t easy on him or Via, who feels that all of her parents’ attention goes to her brother. As August struggles to make friends and handle hurtful comments, Via nurtures a relationship with a boy named Justin (Nadji Jeter) by joining theatre and telling him she’s an only child.

The film is a heartfelt tale of (as said by Via in the film) why you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out. It’s about the imperfections and flaws we have and how they make us whole. The book the film is based on is just as wonderful (see what I did there?) as its film adaptation. R.J. Palacio’s Wonder was the winner of a number of awards, including the 2015 Mark Twain Readers Award and the 2014 Bluestem Award, was on the New York Times bestseller list for eighty weeks and spent thirty-six of them in the number one slot, spawning multiple spin-off and sequel books. One of these other books, a graphic novel titled White Bird and starring Helen Mirren, has a film adaptation coming to theaters in October of this year. Wonder is often praised for its faithfulness to its source material, but how faithful is it really?

'Wonder' Slightly Changes Summer's Role From the Book

One of the first kids to show August kindness at school is Summer (Millie Davis). After August has a falling out with his friend Jack (Noah Jupe), she sits with him at lunch, and they become fast friends as August gives Jack the cold shoulder. However, in the book, Summer was there from the beginning! She sat with August at lunch on the first day of school and there are multiple scenes after that of them interacting in class, visiting each other’s homes, and playing together. She is also more vocal in the book about her reasons for befriending August, and she consistently shows discomfort with people calling her a “saint” for hanging out with him, insisting that she is just friends with August because she wants to be, not because she has to or was asked to be.

Changing her role in the film was a bit of a detriment, in this writer’s opinion. While she still becomes friends with August, and we still get the memorable scene of her becoming upset when August implies she’s only sitting with him because Mr. Tushman (Mandy Patinkin) asked her to, we don’t get it until after August has issues with Jack, who was portrayed as his only friend. It comes off as a more pitying gesture than it does in the novel.

The Book Has More Points of View Than 2017's 'Wonder'

Wonder, both novel and film, are split into multiple character viewpoints. Of course, August’s view is the prominent one as the main character, but we also see Via, Jack, Summer, and Miranda’s (Danielle Rose Russell) stories, which provide a well-rounded look at the narrative. There is also a series of novellas by Palacio found in the book Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories that provide a few extra character stories, such as Julian (Bryce Gheisar), Charlotte (Elle McKinnon), and Christopher (a friend of August’s that isn’t mentioned in the film).

The film doesn’t include Julian, Charlotte, or Christopher’s viewpoints, nor does it include Justin’s, which brought a lot more context to Via’s part of the story. While Julian, Charlotte, and Christopher are technically included in a different novel, the story through their eyes is a good foundation for what happened before the events of Wonder, and having Julian’s story would be a good precursor to White Bird, which is about his grandmother’s experiences during World War II. Perhaps we’ll get to see the Julian side when the film comes to theaters in October.

The 'Wonder' Movie Doesn’t Include August's Hearing Aids

It’s a short scene in the novel, but August has to get hearing aids and mentions that he’s known he’ll need them for some time. Because of the shape of his ears, he needs a strap to keep the hearing aids in place, and he laments that he looks like Lobot from Star Wars. After he tries the hearing aids on and realizes he can hear much better, he’s happy to wear them, and he’s even happier when he goes to school after and isn’t teased by anyone. Instead, he’s told by his friends that he looks cool, like a secret agent, and that they’re glad he can hear better.

It’s a nice scene that shows the changing attitude of the people around August, and how the behavior of some of his classmates continues to affect him even after the bullying has “stopped.” It would have been a good moment to see in the film, as it’s important to see August experiencing the kindness of others when it doesn’t feel performative.

Key Scenes From the Book Aren't in 2017's 'Wonder'

Wonder, as a novel, does something brilliant. It works with short scenes and that allows it to bounce from moment to moment and use plenty of different scenes to explore August and the people around him. This is especially important later in the novel when August’s classmates start to befriend him. A good example is the “Auggie Doll” scene, where August makes a joke about Uglydolls being based on him and a classmate brings him an Uglydoll keychain the next day with a note calling August the nicest Uglydoll ever. It’s short and simple, but it speaks volumes about how August’s experience changes and how people start to try to get to know him instead of just avoiding him. It also helps develop August’s personality, something that sometimes felt flat in the film.

There’s also August’s two teachers, Mr. Browne (Daveed Diggs), who is the homeroom teacher in the film but the English teacher in the book, and Ms. Petosa (Ali Liebert), who is the science teacher in the film, but the homeroom teacher in the book. August gets significantly less time with them in the movie, and we lose some great moments of the staff leading by example.

Overall, Wonder is a pretty faithful adaption of its source material. It may move some things around or take some things out that could have added to the film and given August a bit more agency, but it hits all the major notes and keeps in some of the most memorable lines from the novel. Movies only have so much time, after all. Not everything can make the cut. But even with the changes, Wonder manages to remain an uplifting story of friendship, family, and acceptance. Be sure to check out the novels, though, to get a little extra wonder in your day.

Wonder is available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.