August or 'Auggie' Pullman, a ten-year-old boy living in New York City, was born with a facial deformity that has made it difficult for him to make friends. He lives with his parents, his older sister Via, and his dog Daisy. He has been homeschooled up until the fifth grade, but his parents have decided that it is time for him to go to a real school. They enroll him in Beecher Prep, a neighborhood private school, and take him to meet the principal, Mr. Tushman. While August is there, some of the kids who will be in August's grade take him on a tour of the school; one of them, Jack Will, is nice, but another, Julian, is noticeably rude.
Auggie settles into the first few months of school and his classmates slowly get used to the way his face looks. He becomes friends with Jack, and with a girl named Summer who sits with him at lunch on the first day. Apparently, a rumor that touching Auggie will give you the 'plague' arises, so his classmates make a point of avoiding touching him, so that Auggie begins to feel alienated. Things get a lot worse on Halloween, typically Auggie's favorite day of the year, when Auggie overhears Jack say to Julian and some other boys that he would kill himself if he looked like Auggie. Jack is completely unaware that Auggie himself is sitting nearby, disguised in a Bleeding Scream costume.
The story switches perspective to Via, Auggie's older sister, who begins high school at the same time that Auggie starts middle school. Via has had to come to terms with the fact that her family's universe revolves around Auggie and his needs; hers often get pushed to the side. The only person who put her first was her grandmother, Grans, who is dead by the time the narrative begins.
Via is also dealing with school issues, since her former best friends, Miranda and Ella, stopped talking to her over the summer. Via feels neglected after the first day of school, since her mother appears more concerned with Auggie's day than with hers. A rift continues to grow between Via and her former friends, and Via settles into new group. On Halloween, Via is confused when Auggie comes home early, claiming to be sick and refusing to go trick or treating. He reveals to her what happened with Jack, and she convinces him that some kids will always be mean. Auggie, according to her, must move past such dilemmas and keep going to school. Auggie surprises Via by telling her that Miranda called to talk to him, and asked about her.
Adventures in Odyssey #15: A Place of Wonder; Pinit. Adventures in Odyssey #15: A Place of Wonder (0) No Reviews yet. 15 Wondrous Facts About Wonder Woman. BY Bryan Reesman. Take-charge champion of justice who very quickly became a star and holds her place next to the likes of Superman and Batman as one of the. Find Great Deals on Adventures in Odyssey: A Place of Wonder (#15) Compare Prices & Shop Online PriceCheck. Jumeirah Palm Island. The Palm Islands are the largest artificial islands in the world and one of the most ambitious developments on earth. Their unique palm-tree shapes help to add 520 kilometers to Dubai’s coastline. These amazing man-made islands are considered the eighth wonder of the world. Pages in category 'Episodes in Album 15: A Place of Wonder' The following 13 pages are in this category, out of 13 total.
Next comes Summer's point of view. Summer spends time with Auggie because she legitimately wants to be his friend, not because Mr. Tushman asked her to. Since Auggie is mad at Jack, Summer becomes his best friend, and their two families hit it off as well. Summer struggles over whether to keep hanging out with Auggie or to hang out with the popular crowd instead, but ultimately chooses Auggie. When Jack eventually asks Summer why Auggie is mad at him, she gives him one clue: 'Bleeding Scream.'
The next section is told from Jack's perspective, and he backtracks to when Mr. Tushman first asked him to try to be a friend to the new student. He remembers seeing Auggie when they were both very little: at this earlier time, Jack was disconcerted by Auggie's face. Jack also has some struggles at home, since his family is not wealthy -- a sharp contrast to some other families with children in private schools.
When Jack puts two and two together and figures out what Auggie overheard, he feels terrible. He really does want to be Auggie's friend, but he got caught up in an attempt to be accepted by kids like Julian. When Julian tells him one day that being friends with Auggie is not worth it, Jack gets so angry that he punches Julian in the face. This conflict sets off a series of apology letters involving Jack, Mr. Tushman, and Julian, and Jack and Auggie eventually make up and become friends again. When Jack and Auggie return to school after winter break, though, Jack realizes that Julian has turned most of the boys in their grade against them and that a 'war' has begun.
The perspective then switches to Via's new boyfriend, Justin, who has just met Auggie. Justin is good for Via, because he makes her feel important and valued. Since his own parents are divorced, Justin also enjoys spending time with the unified Pullman family. Auditions for the school play at his and Via's high school arrive, and he gets cast as the male lead in Our Town, while Via's old friend Miranda gets cast as the female lead with Via as the understudy.
Auggie's perspective comes back for the first time since the beginning of the novel: the situation has gotten better at school as students grow tired of the 'war' between Julian and Jack. The Pullman family gets in a fight one day when Auggie realizes that Via has been hiding her involvement in the school play from him. She does not want him to come, because then she would be known once again as the girl with the deformed brother. During the fight, though, the Pullmans' dog Daisy is discovered to be extremely sick. She must be put to sleep, a choice which devastates the family. This loss also makes Via forget about the fight, and the whole family goes to the school play to see Justin. They expect to see Miranda in the lead female role, but then get a shock: Miranda apparently fell sick right before the show, so instead Via performs the lead role, and she does an amazing job.
Miranda gets a chance to tell her story now: she has avoided Via since school started because, during the summer, she told a lot of lies at camp and pretended she had a deformed little brother in order to become popular. She secretly misses Via, though. On the opening night of the play, Miranda has no one there to see her, so after she sees the Pullman family in the audience she fakes an illness so that Via can go onstage instead. This ploy gives Via and Miranda an opportunity to patch up their relationship.
The final section of the novel switches back to Auggie. The fifth grade goes on a retreat at a nature reserve for three days: this is Auggie's first time sleeping away from home. Things go great until the second night, when the students are watching an outdoor movie. Jack and Auggie go into the woods so that Jack can pee; while there, they encounter a bunch of older kids from another school, who make fun of Auggie and try to hurt him. Luckily, three of the boys from Beecher Prep who are usually mean to Auggie -- Henry, Miles, and Amos -- come to Auggie's rescue, although one of the older kids steals Auggie's hearing aids.
This incident makes Auggie extremely popular, however. By the final stages of the novel, almost everyone has at last warmed up to him and wants to be his friend. Things start looking up: the Pullmans get a new puppy, and Auggie learns from Mr. Tushman that Julian will not come back to Beecher Prep the following year. Graduation arrives; Auggie wins a special award for courage and kindness. He realizes how far he has come since the beginning of school, and he now has a solid group of friends and feels comfortable with who he is. The novel ends with his mother whispering in his ear, calling him a 'wonder.'
The earliest lists of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were made more than 2,000 years ago by ancient Hellenic tourists. Except for the Great Pyramid of Giza those wonders no longer exist. They were destroyed by earthquakes, fires and in one case by an angry mob. Many lists of wonders have been made since than. Today we list our selection of 10 wonders of the world.
10. Parthenon
The Parthenon on top of the Acropolis is one of the most famous buildings in the world and a visit to Athens is not complete without visiting this temple. The construction of the Parthenon started in in 447 BC, replacing and older temple that was destroyed by the Persians, and completed in 432 BC. The purpose of the Parthenon was to house a massive statue of Athena Parthenos made from ivory, silver and gold. Sometime in the 5th century the statue was looted by one of the Roman Emperors, and taken to Constantinople, where it was later destroyed. During its long life the Parthenon has also served as a fortress, a church, a mosque and as a powder magazine.
9. Easter Island
The world famous moai are monolithic statues located on Easter Island, one of the most isolated islands on Earth. The statues were carved by the Polynesian colonizers of the island, mostly between circa 1250 AD and 1500 AD. In addition to representing deceased ancestors, the moai were also regarded as the embodiment of powerful living or former chiefs. The tallest moai erected, called Paro, was almost 10 meters (33 ft) high and weighed 75 tonnes. The statues were till standing when Europeans first visited the island, but most would be cast down during later conflicts between clans. Today about 50 moai have been re-erected on Easter Island or museums elsewhere.
8. Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is an immense mausoleum of white marble, built between 1632 and 1653 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife. The Taj is one of the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tombs in the world, one of the masterpieces of Mughal architecture, and one of the great sites of the world’s heritage. Called “a teardrop on the cheek of eternity”, the monument is actually an integrated complex of structures. Besides the white domed marble mausoleum it includes several other beautiful buildings, reflecting pools, and extensive ornamental gardens with flowering trees and bushes.
7. Colosseum
The Colosseum is the largest and most famous amphitheater ever built in the Roman Empire. Its construction was started by emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty in 72 AD and was finished by his son Titus in 80 AD. During the Colosseum’s opening ceremonies, spectacles were held for 100 days in which 5,000 of animals and 2,000 gladiators were killed. The Colosseum was capable of holding some 50,000 spectators who could enter the building through no less than 80 entrances. Spectators were protected from the rain and heat of the sun by sail,s called the “velarium”, around the top of the attic. It is one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions and has become an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome.
6. Angkor
Angkor Wat is a vast temple complex featuring the magnificent remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century AD. These include the famous Angkor Wat temple, the world’s largest single religious monument, and the Bayon temple (at Angkor Thom) with its multitude of massive stone faces. During it’s long history Angkor went through many changes in religion converting between Hinduism to Buddhism several times. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country’s prime attraction for visitors.
5. Teotihuacan
In the 2nd century BC a new civilization arose in the valley of Mexico. This civilization built the flourishing metropolis of Teotihuacán and it’s huge step pyramids. The Pyramid of the Sun was built around 100 AD and is 75 meters (246 ft (75) high making it the largest building in Teotihuacán and one of the largest in Mesoamerica. The construction of the smaller Pyramid of the Moon started a century later and was finished in 450 A.D. Seven centuries after the demise of the Teotihuacán empire the pyramids were honored and utilized by the Aztecs and became a place of pilgrimage.
4. Petra
Petra, the fabled “rose red city, half as old as time”, was the ancient capital of the Nabataean kingdom. It is without a doubt Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction. A vast, unique city, carved into the side of the Wadi Musa Canyon centuries ago by the Nabataeans, who turned it into an important junction for the silk and spice routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Greece and Rome. The most elaborate building in Petra is Al Khazneh (“The Treasury”), carved out of a sandstone rock face, it’s massive façade dwarfing everything around it.
3. Machu Picchu
One of the most beautiful and impressive ancient sites in the world, Machu Pichu was rediscovered in 1911 by Hawaiian historian Hiram after it lay hidden for centuries above the Urubamba Valley. The “Lost City of the Incas” is invisible from below and completely self-contained, surrounded by agricultural terraces and watered by natural springs. Although known locally, it was largely unknown to the outside world before being rediscovered in 1911. Since then, Machu Picchu has become the most important tourist attraction in Peru.
2. Great Wall of China
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The Great Wall of China built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from the attacks of the Xiongnu tribes. Several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China but little of that wall remains. The majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The most comprehensive archaeological survey has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 kilometers (5,500.3 miles).
15: A Place Of Wonders
1. Pyramids of Giza
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The Giza necropolis, situated in the immediate vicinity of the southwestern suburbs of Cairo is probably the most famous ancient site in the world. The pyramids in Giza were built over the span of three generations – by Khufu, his second reigning son Khafre, and Menkaure. The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the oldest and sole remnant of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Over 2 million blocks of stone were used to construct the pyramid, during a 20 year period concluding around 2560 BC. The pyramid is an awe-inspiring 139 meters (455 feet) high making it the largest pyramid in Egypt, although nearby Khafre’s Pyramid appears to be larger as it is build at a higher elevation.