Who Is the Author of Wonder? R.J. Palacio, 63

The Short Answer

R.J. Palacio, 63, is the author of Wonder. Born Raquel Jaramillo Palacio on July 13, 1963, in New York City to Colombian immigrant parents, she worked for over 20 years as an art director and book-cover designer - creating jackets for authors including Thomas Pynchon and Salman Rushdie - before writing her first novel. Wonder (2012) has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and was adapted into the 2017 film starring Julia Roberts. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Russell Gordon, and their two sons, Caleb and Joseph.

Early Life and Background

Raquel Jaramillo Palacio was born on July 13, 1963, in New York City, a first-generation American whose parents were Colombian immigrants. She attended Manhattan's High School of Art & Design, majored in illustration at Parsons School of Design, and spent a year at the American University of Paris. Her early illustrations appeared in The Village Voice and The New York Times Book Review.

For more than two decades, Palacio was an art director and book-jacket designer for major publishers, designing thousands of covers across every genre. She also illustrated children's books under her birth name and even invented a baby toy, the Bobo Glove. Writing was a deferred dream - until a single incident changed everything.

Palacio has said Wonder was inspired by a real encounter: her young son noticed a girl with a severe facial difference and began to cry; fearing he would upset the girl's family, Palacio hurried him away - and later felt she had handled it badly. Natalie Merchant's song "Wonder" gave her the title and the prologue's chorus. She wrote the novel that became a modern classic, publishing it in 2012 at age 48 - proof, she says, that it's never the perfect time to start writing, so you should just go for it.

Palacio's design career was distinguished before it was famous: as an art director for major publishers, she designed thousands of book jackets - for Paul Auster, Thomas Pynchon, Salman Rushdie among countless others - learning, cover by cover, what makes a book irresistible. She illustrated children's books under her birth name, Raquel Jaramillo, and invented the Bobo Glove baby toy. The Wonder origin - her son's encounter with a girl with facial differences, her own mishandled reaction, Natalie Merchant's song - is now publishing lore. She wrote the novel in stolen hours, at 48, after two decades of designing other people's dreams. The debut sold 5 million-plus copies and never really left the bestseller lists.

Career Highlights

R.J. Palacio's career has two acts: design and writing. As an art director, she shaped the visual identity of countless books; as a novelist, she created one of the defining children's books of the 21st century. Wonder (2012) spent years on the New York Times bestseller list, won the Christopher Award and dozens of state book awards, and sold over 5 million copies.

She expanded the Wonder universe with Auggie & Me, 365 Days of Wonder, and the graphic novel White Bird (2019) - adapted into a 2024 film starring Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson. Her 2021 novel Pony, her first outside the Wonder universe, debuted with a 500,000-copy first printing. The 2017 Wonder film grossed over $300 million worldwide, carrying Auggie's "choose kind" message to cinemas everywhere.

The Wonder universe kept expanding: Auggie & Me (2014), 365 Days of Wonder (2014), the picture book We're All Wonders (2017), the graphic novel White Bird (2019) - the Holocaust story of Julian's grandmother, adapted into the 2024 film starring Helen Mirren and Gillian Anderson. Pony (2021), her first non-Wonder novel, debuted with a 500,000-copy first printing. The 2017 Wonder film - Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay - grossed $300 million-plus and carried "choose kind" into cinemas. Awards: the Christopher Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, dozens of state book awards, and 2018 Kids for Peace Peace Hero. At 63, she is children's literature's kindness laureate.

Family and Children

R.J. Palacio lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, Russell Gordon - an executive art director at Simon & Schuster Children's Books - and their two sons, Caleb and Joseph, plus two dogs, Bear and Beau. Her family was the crucible of Wonder: it was her son's encounter with a girl with a facial difference that sparked the novel.

Born to Colombian immigrants, Palacio has described herself as a first-generation American, and her heritage informs her perspective as a storyteller. She has kept her family life warm but private - the rare public glimpses show a household built around books, art, and the kindness philosophy her novel preaches. Her sons, now adults, grew up watching their mother's deferred dream become a global phenomenon.

Marriage and Relationships

Russell Gordon has been R.J. Palacio's husband through both acts of her career - the decades of art direction and the whirlwind of literary fame. An executive art director in children's publishing himself, he understood the book world she worked in long before Wonder made her famous.

The couple raised their two sons in Brooklyn, in a home Palacio has described as full of books and dogs. While she is the public face of the Choose Kind movement, Gordon has remained largely out of the spotlight - the steady partner behind one of children's literature's most beloved authors.

Family Roots and Extended Family

Palacio's heritage story is the American dream in one generation: her parents were Colombian immigrants; she was born Raquel Jaramillo in New York City in 1963 - "Palacio" was her mother's maiden name, adopted as a pen name. A first-generation American, she attended Manhattan's High School of Art & Design and Parsons, spent a year at the American University of Paris, and built her career in New York publishing. Her husband Russell Gordon is an executive art director at Simon & Schuster Children's Books - a true publishing marriage. Sons Caleb and Joseph, now adults, grew up watching their mother's deferred dream come true; the family dogs Bear and Beau complete the Brooklyn household.

Where Are They Today?

As of October 2026, R.J. Palacio is 63 and continues to write and champion kindness education. The White Bird film (2024) brought her graphic novel to new audiences, and Wonder remains a classroom staple worldwide - assigned in schools across dozens of countries, with its "choose kind" precept quoted on posters in hallways everywhere.

At 63, Palacio's story resonates as much as her book's: a woman who waited until 48 to publish her first novel, then watched it change the culture. The question "who is the author of Wonder" keeps being asked because new generations of young readers - and their parents - discover Auggie every year.