What did Auggie compare his friendship with Summer to?

Wonder, written by R.J. Palacio, is a story about August "Auggie" Pullman, a young boy with a facial deformity. Auggie has never attended a real school and is worried about starting school as a fifth-grader.
Auggie faces many issues on his first day of school, especially finding a place to sit in the cafeteria during lunch. Auggie decides to eat by himself and sits alone at a table. Summer, a girl at the school, asks Auggie if the seats by him are taken and sits down.
While Auggie and Summer are eating, a friendship begins to form. Because of their names, August and Summer, they decide that only people with "summer" names should be allowed to sit at their table. After school, Auggie tells his mom that his friendship with Summer is sort of like Beauty and the Beast. He makes this comparison because he sees himself as ugly because of his face and because of how he must eat due to his deformity. He sees Summer as beautiful because she is one of the more popular girls and also has a great personality.


On Auggie's first day of school, he faces the uncomfortable predicament of finding a place to sit at lunch. Although a teacher specifically said not to save seats, it seems as if many students are saving seats for their friends. Finally, Auggie finds a table and begins to eat lunch by himself. Already self-conscious about the way he looks, Auggie also hates the way he eats. He has a hole in the top of his mouth which causes crumbs to fly out as he chews. As he begins eating, Summer approaches him and says, "Hey, is this seat taken?"
Auggie and Summer proceed to have a conversation about a "summer only" lunch table. They make a list of kids with summer names that could potentially sit at their table. When his mom picks him up from school, she notices Summer and asks about her. Auggie explains that they ate lunch together. Auggie then makes a comparison about his friendship with Summer. He says, "We're kind of like Beauty and the Beast." Auggie makes that comparison because he feels he is ugly and Summer is pretty.

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