R. J. Palacio

R. J. Palacio was born Raquel Jaramillo in New York City to Colombian immigrant parents. She studied at the High School of Art and Design and at Parsons School of Design. For about twenty years she worked as a book cover designer and art director and wrote at night.

The idea for Wonder came from a moment outside an ice cream shop, when her young son cried at the sight of a girl with a facial difference. She left quickly to avoid a scene and later felt she had handled it badly. Wonder (2012) follows August Pullman, a boy born with a facial difference, through his first year at a mainstream school. Told by several narrators, it argues that small acts of kindness change how a community treats someone who looks different.

The novel became a film in 2017 and led to companion books, including the graphic novel White Bird (2019). Her novel Pony (2021) is her first without Wonder characters. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their two sons.