40 Fun Facts About Auggie & Me

Which 1986 hit by the Swedish band Europe is Christopher's after-school band rehearsing in Pluto, from Auggie & Me?

The Final Countdown is the song the band has been practicing for the spring concert, until its older members push to swap it. Christopher's friend, who has never heard their pick, is crushed.

Pluto, the favorite stop in Christopher and Auggie's imaginary space voyages, was reclassified in 2006 as what?

A dwarf planet is what astronomers made Pluto in 2006, when they redefined the word planet. In the story, Auggie bursts into tears when his faith in the boys' favorite world is shattered.

What name does Julian give the cruel game in which classmates must not touch Auggie in The Julian Chapter?

The Plague is the game Julian starts at Beecher Prep: any student who touches Auggie must wash his hands at once. Mr. Tushman later cites it as part of a pattern of hostile behavior.

Promised a dog when the family left New York, which pet does Auggie's friend Christopher actually get in Pluto?

A hamster is all Christopher gets after the move, and he resents it. His mother had promised a dog while she was trying to win him over to the new house.

In Pluto, which gift for Auggie's fifth birthday starts his and Christopher's shared obsession with outer space?

An astronaut helmet arrives on Auggie's fifth birthday, and he wears it every day. It launches what Christopher calls their space phase, with Pluto the favorite stop on their pretend voyages.

Which instrument does the blind street musician Charlotte passes play in Shingaling, from Auggie & Me?

An accordion is the blind man's instrument, and Charlotte drops a dollar into its case each day. When he vanishes from his usual spot, she starts asking everyone where he went.

After his troubled year at school, Julian stays with his Grandmère in which European capital in The Julian Chapter?

Paris is Grandmère's home, and she treats Julian like an adult there, taking him to museums, restaurants and films his parents would forbid. The story she tells him changes how he sees Auggie.

Older boys in Christopher's band in Pluto want to play Seven Nation Army, a 2003 hit by which rock duo?

The White Stripes released Seven Nation Army in 2003, and its riff became a chant at sports grounds worldwide. Christopher's mother recalls hearing it played at a pub in her college days.

Which Oscar-winning Dame plays Grandmère on screen in 2024, retelling her wartime story from Auggie & Me?

Helen Mirren plays Julian's Grandmère, who tells her grandson how a classmate hid her during the war. The film adapts Palacio's 2019 graphic novel, which expanded the tale from The Julian Chapter.

In The Julian Chapter, which disease had disabled the legs of the classmate who saves Grandmère?

Polio had left the boy's legs disabled, and his classmates mocked and avoided him for it. He still led Grandmère to safety when soldiers came for the Jewish children at their school.

Which former friend punches Julian in the face after a cruel remark about Auggie in The Julian Chapter?

Jack Will throws the punch, having grown close to Auggie since showing him around the school. Julian answers by slipping hateful notes into both boys' lockers.

In Pluto, which instrument does Christopher leave at home along with his science paper and gym shorts?

The trombone was promised on loan to a classmate that day, so forgetting it stings twice. His music teacher makes Christopher sit and watch the rest of the orchestra practice as a penalty.

Charlotte's worry over a missing street musician in Shingaling gets channeled into which school charity effort?

A coat drive is where her mother steers that energy, and Mr. Tushman soon asks Charlotte to help run one at school. She half expects a medal for it by the end of the year.

The stories in Auggie & Me first appeared separately in which format before a 2015 volume collected them?

E-books were the first home of all three stories. Julian's came out first, then Christopher's and Charlotte's, before a single hardcover gathered them.

Where does the family of Grandmère's rescuer hide her from the Nazis for two years in The Julian Chapter?

In their barn is where the family sheltered her, at the risk of their own lives. Decades later she takes Julian and his parents back to the village to see it.

In Pluto, Christopher's family has left New York City for which Connecticut city, the most populous in the state?

Bridgeport is the new home, and the distance thins out a friendship that began in infancy. Playdates give way to scheduled video chats, and then the calls dwindle.

Why does Christopher's mother never return to school with his forgotten things in Pluto?

She had a car accident that morning and broke her leg. Christopher spends the day assuming she went to comfort the Pullmans, then blames himself once his father tells him the truth.

Christopher wants to name the Pullmans' new dog after a Sith villain in Pluto; which compromise name wins?

Darth Daisy is the compromise: Christopher pushed for Darth Maul, while Auggie's sister wanted a flower name. Auggie's father had simply turned up one day with the yellow dog.

In The Julian Chapter, which problem from Julian's early years returns after he first sees Auggie's face?

Nightmares had troubled Julian as a small child, and seeing Auggie brings them back. His mother blames the principal for admitting Auggie instead of helping her son face the fear.

Teased by classmates as over-eager in Shingaling, Charlotte dreams of one day performing where?

On Broadway is where Charlotte pictures herself, which is why she throws herself into the dance audition. Winning a place costs her the goodwill of the popular girl who is cut.

Which school subject does Auggie help Christopher study over a video call at the end of Pluto?

Math is the subject: Christopher has a test the next day and has not studied for it. Auggie talks him through homework that had felt impossible, proof the old friendship still works.

Apart from his orchestra instrument, what does Christopher play in the after-school band in Pluto?

Electric guitar is Christopher's instrument in the band. He and the one other fourth grader get a cool welcome from the older members, who never treat them as equals.

What action against Beecher Prep does a remorseful Julian persuade his parents to drop in The Julian Chapter?

A lawsuit against the school is what his angry parents had planned. Julian talks them out of it after hearing Grandmère's story, then writes Auggie an apology.

Who does Charlotte tell Mr. Tushman deserves a medal for befriending Auggie first in Shingaling?

Summer Dawson sat with Auggie at lunch because she wanted to, not because anyone asked. Charlotte then sees that her friend would not want a prize for kindness, and resolves to be more like her.

What does Christopher do at the end of fourth grade in Pluto that he fears hurt Auggie's feelings?

Cuts off his Padawan braid: the two boys had grown matching ones in third grade. When they next talk that September, Christopher sees that Auggie has cut his off too.

Which Beecher Prep English teacher, known for his precepts, replies to Julian's email in The Julian Chapter?

Mr. Browne writes back that Julian was a gifted student, then nudges him to ask himself why he hated Auggie. Julian had already mailed him a precept on a postcard.

At the hospital in Pluto, which Star Wars plush toy does young Christopher give to the boy sharing Auggie's room?

An Ewok was the toy Christopher had picked out for himself that day. After being sick at the sight of the other patient's face, he asks his mother to take it back in as a gift.

Which former best friend of Charlotte's has joined the popular girls' group by the time of Shingaling?

Ellie now sits with the popular girls, and Charlotte, who understands the pull, keeps hoping for an invitation of her own. Their friend Maya takes the desertion far harder.

Before writing Wonder and Auggie & Me, R. J. Palacio spent years in publishing doing which job for other authors?

Designing book covers was Palacio's trade: she made jackets for writers including Paul Auster and Thomas Pynchon, hundreds in all, before Wonder turned her into a bestselling novelist.

How does a grumpy Christopher address his mother in Pluto, knowing that she dislikes it?

By her first name, Lisa, is how he needles her, even answering her goodbye at school drop-off that way. By nightfall he is blaming himself for the whole day.

What role does Mr. Tushman phone to offer Julian before the school year starts in The Julian Chapter?

Welcome buddy for a new student is the job, and Julian's mother takes the call as an honor. He is one of three children picked to show Auggie around Beecher Prep.

Where does Christopher hold his sixth birthday party in Pluto, on the day Auggie is rushed to the hospital?

A planetarium hosts the party, at the height of the boys' space phase. Christopher's mother, helping the Pullmans, arrives so late that she misses the space show, and he is furious.

Besides the move, what change at home weighs on Christopher throughout the Auggie & Me story Pluto?

His parents' separation is recent, and none of his teachers guess it lies behind his scattered, forgetful days. It makes the Pullman household feel like a place of safety.

What cruel nickname did classmates give the disabled boy who rescues Grandmère in The Julian Chapter?

Tourteau was the taunt aimed at his disabled legs. His real name is the one Julian now carries: Grandmère gave it to her son in the boy's honor.

Which Beecher Prep teacher picks Charlotte and two classmates for a gala dance and drills them hard in Shingaling?

Mrs. Atanabi is fun and full of stories but insists that every detail of the routine is right. She built it on the shingaling, the dance that gives the story its title.

How does the boy who rescues Grandmère lead her away from her school in The Julian Chapter?

Through the sewers the pair reach his poor home village, where the drains of larger towns emptied. Soldiers had come to the school for its Jewish pupils.

The present-day chapters of Pluto in Auggie & Me, unlike its flashbacks, take what as their titles?

A time of day heads the present-day chapters, such as 7:08 a.m. and 11:59 p.m., so the story tracks one long bad day. Flashbacks get ordinary titles such as The Hospital Visit.

In a hospital flashback in Pluto, Christopher visits after Auggie's surgery to remove which device?

His trach tube came out in that operation so Auggie could breathe on his own. Christopher, about six, overheard the mothers discussing complications and feared his friend might die.

Offered a place in the older boys' band in Pluto, Christopher instead stays loyal to which fellow fourth grader?

John is the only other fourth grader in the after-school band, and the older members never made either of them welcome. Christopher texts the older boys his answer just before going to bed.

Julian's suspension from Beecher Prep makes him miss which fifth-grade event in The Julian Chapter?

The nature preserve trip goes ahead without Julian. He returns to find the class rallied around Auggie after a clash with older bullies there, and is shocked that everyone now sees him as the bully.