Raquel Jaramillo Palacio (born July 13, 1963) is an American author and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

. She is the author of several novels for children, including the best-selling ''

Wonder Wonder may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Wonder'' (film), a 2017 drama based on the R. J. Palacio novel * ''The Wonder'' (film), a 2022 drama based on the Emma Donoghue novel * Wonder, a character in the 2006 American family film ''Z ...

'', which was adapted into a 2017 film starring

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles across various genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Award ...

and

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has frequently worked with filmmaker Wes Anderson, with whom he has shared writing and acting credits on the films '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and ''T ...

Career

R.J. began her writing career as an illustrator, designing book covers for

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...

, and others. During the course of her career she designed many hundreds of book covers, covering both fiction and non-fiction books. She also illustrated several children's books that she wrote herself. For the first two decades of her career, she wrote books at night after her day job as a designer. She illustrated her early books which were board books for children, published under the name Raquel Jaramillo. Following ''Wonder's'' international success, Palacio published several companion books to the novel. Published in 2014, '' 365 Days of Wonder'' is a collection of quotes or precepts that highlight kindness and goodness, interspersed with letters and emails written by the characters in ''Wonder''. '' Auggie & Me'' (2015) comprises three short stories written about and from the perspectives of Auggie's friends, Christopher and Charlotte, and Auggie's nemesis, Julian. ''We’re All Wonders'' (2017) is a picture book for younger readers which tells Auggie’s story from his own perspective. Finally, ''White Bird'' (2019) is a graphic novel which tells the story of Julian's Grandmère when she was a young

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

girl hidden from the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

by a family in France during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. '' White Bird'', set to be released as a motion picture in October 2024, stars Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar (who originally starred as Julian in the ''Wonder'' film),

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...

, and

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

. In 2021, Random House announced that her new novel ''Pony'' would have a first printing of 500,000 copies. It is her first novel not featuring the characters from the Wonder universe.

Personal life

Born in New York City as the daughter of Colombian immigrants, Palacio attended Manhattan's High School of Art & Design and majored in designing at the

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

. She spent a year at the

American University of Paris The American University of Paris (AUP) is a private university in Paris, France. Founded in 1962, the university is one of the oldest American institutions of higher education in Europe, and the first to be established in France. The university ...

, travelling widely throughout Europe, before returning to New York. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband Russell Gordon, an executive art director at Simon and Schuster Children's Books, and their two sons Caleb and Joseph.

Awards and honors

She was a recipient of the

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

for ''Wonder'' in 2013, and the

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award The Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (formerly the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award) annually recognizes one new American children's book selected by the vote of Vermont schoolchildren. It was inaugurated in 1957. The award is co-spon ...

as well as the German Children's Book Award (Youth Jury) in 2014. ''

'' was on The New York Times Best Seller list and was also on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list. ''Wonder'' was the winner of the 2014 Maine Student Book Award, Vermont's

, the 2015 Mark Twain Award, Hawaii's 2015 Nene Award, the 2015 Young Hoosier Book Award, and the Junior Young Reader's Choice Award for 2015. In Illinois, it won both the Bluestem and Caudill Awards in 2014. In 2018, she was named as the Kids for Peace 'Peace Hero' of the year. Kids for Peace Global website, ''Peace Hero''
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Bibliography

* ''Ride, Baby, Ride'' (1998) * ''Dream, Baby, Dream!'' (1998) * ''Last Summer: A Little Book for Dads'' (2004) * ''

'' (2012) * ''The Extraordinary'' (2012) * ''Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories'' (2014) * ''365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts'' (2014) * ''We're all Wonders'' (2017) * ''White Bird'' (2019) * ''Pony'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palacio, R. J. American women novelists 1963 births Living people American writers of young adult literature American people of Colombian descent Pseudonymous women writers American women writers of young adult literature 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Hispanic and Latino American writers Hispanic and Latino American people American women graphic designers American graphic designers Colombian diaspora in the United States Novelists from New York City