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Because of all his medical issues and facial deformities caused by a condition known as Treacher Collins, ten-year-old August “Auggie” Pullman has always been home schooled. Now that he's more medically stable, his parents want him to go to school. He likes the idea of going to school, but he dreads the idea of being the kid everyone stares at. Although he’s used to being stared at, he wears an astronaut helmet to block his face from others.

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Auggie’s mom takes him to meet the principal of Beecher Prep Middle School: Mr. Tushman. Mr. Tushman then introduces Auggie to three other kids in his grade: Jack Will, Julian, and Charlotte. They take Auggie on a tour of the school. Julian rudely asks what happened to Auggie's face, and Charlotte scolds Julian and Jack Will defends Auggie.

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The first day of school comes and Auggie is forced to give up his astronaut helmet, so he goes straight to his homeroom, keeping his head down so the other kids can’t look at him. Jack Will and Charlotte greet him, but Julian ignores him. In English class, Mr. Browne introduces the fifth graders to the idea of precepts—rules and mottoes about important things. Finally lunch comes and Auggie doesn’t know who to sit with, so he sits alone. Surprisingly, though, a girl named Summer decides to sit with him.

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Halloween approaches and Auggie decides to be Boba Fett from Star Wars up until last minute when he decides to put on the Bleeding Scream costume he wore last year. He hears Julian and some other kids making fun of the way he looks; one boy dressed as a mummy says that he only hangs out with Auggie because Tushman asked him to at the beginning of the year, and that he thinks he would kill himself if he looked like Auggie. Auggie realizes that the mummy is Jack Will. He then runs from the room and swears to himself that he’ll never go back to school.

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The book’s perspective switches to Auggie's older sister, Via, who begins by talking about how she’s gotten used to how her entire family life revolves around Auggie and his needs. She says that she doesn’t mind the situation because she’s used to it, but it means that she and her own needs often take second place.

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Tensions are high at the Pullman house because neither Via nor Auggie want to talk about their first day of school. Via’s very upset when Auggie cuts off his Padawan braid, believing that Auggie has lost a part of himself. That night, their mom is supposed to come and talk to Via about her first day, but she falls asleep in Auggie's room instead.

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When Auggie claims to have a stomach ache and insists that he won’t go back to Beecher Prep, Via reminds him he’s not the kind of kid who quits things. She tells him to go back and not let mean kids keep him from school. She also tells him that he has a leg up on the kids who were insulting him, since he knows what they said while they don't know that he knows.

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The book’s perspective switches to Summer, the girl who sits with Auggie at lunch everyday. She recalls the other kids asking why she hangs out with "the freak" so often. While Summer remembers that she sat with Auggie on the first day because she felt sorry for him, she doesn’t feel sorry for him anymore and continues to sit with him because he’s fun.

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Auggie finally comes back after being absent. Summer knows that something is wrong. She tries to get him to talk about the Egyptian Museum project, but Auggie doesn’t get excited. Instead, he tells Summer that she doesn’t have to pretend to be friends with him. Summer insists that she’s not pretending and is upset that Auggie would make this assumption. Auggie finally tells her what happened with Jack Will on Halloween. Summer promises that she won’t tell anyone, and Auggie promises that he won’t accuse Summer again.

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The Egyptian Museum exhibit day comes, and Summer enthusiastically describes the artifacts her class has created. At the exhibit, Summer runs into Jack, who asks her why Auggie is mad at him. Although she swore to Auggie not to tell, she whispers a clue in Jack's ear: "Bleeding Scream."

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The novel's perspective switches to Jack Will who begins by remembering the call he got in August from Mr. Tushman, who asked if he would step up and help August feel welcome at school. Jack is initially opposed to this, recalling how he saw Auggie for the first time in front of an ice cream shop; Jack Will and his brother Jamie immediately were afraid of August's face. After contemplating for a while, Jack Will agrees. He knows that while there are kids who are jerks, even nice kids like Jamie can be mean to people like Auggie, meaning Auggie has no chance in middle school.

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Jack begins to hang out with Auggie, saying that he got used to Auggie's face and that he’s actually a pretty funny kid. Eventually, Jack realizes that he actually wants to be friends with Auggie of his own accord. When Auggie suddenly gets angry and stops talking to him, Jack is extremely confused: he doesn’t understand Summer's "Bleeding Scream" hint.

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During science class, Jack Will abruptly realizes what Summer meant by "bleeding scream." He realizes that Auggie overheard his cruel remarks on Halloween. Things only get worse when Ms. Rubin pairs Jack and Auggie together for a science project. Julian starts to torment Jack about the pairing, saying that he could switch partners and that he doesn’t have to be friends with "that freak”, but as soon as Julian says these words, Jack punches him in the face.

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After being called to the principal’s office and suspended for a few days, Jack Will starts messaging August. This leads to them making up and becoming friends again.

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When Jack goes back to school after break, only the girls will talk to him and a few of the guys. Charlotte tells him what’s going on: Julian is trying to turn everyone against Jack so that he’ll stop being friends with Auggie. Finally, Jack goes to sit with Auggie and Summer. He makes a comment about how it’s weird to have people avoid you and pretend that you don’t exist, and Auggie smiles and says welcome to his world.

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Jack goes to Auggie's house for the first time to work on their science project. While they are there, Via brings her new boyfriend, Justin, home to meet Auggie.

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This section focuses on Justin, Via's new boyfriend. Justin recounts meeting Auggie for the first time, stating that he was taken by surprise. Then, Justin moves on to talk about Via; they’ve been dating for two months, and he knew that he liked her from the moment he first saw her sit down at his table in the cafeteria.

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Justin and Via make plans for him to finally meet her parents at a restaurant. He is nervous so his tics start showing—small spasms and blinks that start when he’s stressed. However, everything goes well and the Pullmans are very excited to meet their daughter's boyfriend. Justin then accompanies the Pullmans home and is told the story of how the Pullmans got their dog Daisy: Via's dad saw a homeless guy pushing a dog in a stroller and impulsively bought it from him.

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For the spring play, Justin and Via's school is staging the classic drama Our Town. Via dares Justin to try out for the lead role, which he gets. Via does not get the female lead, her ex-friend Miranda does. Yet Via seems relieved because she does not like the possibility of people staring at her.

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During play rehearsals, Justin gets to know Miranda better. He is surprised when Miranda asks about Via's brother, because Via did not tell Justin that she and Miranda had been friends. Miranda talks about how she has known Auggie since he was a baby; she takes a picture of him in his astronaut helmet out of her wallet. Annoyed that Via didn’t tell him about Miranda, Justin confronts her about it. Via says that her connection to Miranda isn’t a big deal because Miranda is no longer the person she once was.

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In the final chapter of his section, Justin muses over something Miranda said to him: the universe was not kind to Auggie Pullman. Justin thinks at first that the universe is random, but realizes that it can’t be, since it takes care of its most fragile creations in different ways. It gave Auggie a loving family, after all.

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For their science project, Jack and Auggie make a battery that powers a lamp by using a potato. They display their work at the science fair; however, Auggie is uncomfortable because all the adults in the science fair stare at him. The war between the students continues on, and the two sides start leaving each other mean notes. As time goes on, though, the other kids start to get sick of the war, and people stop buying into what Julian says. By the end of March, only Miles and Henry are left on Julian's side.

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Auggie learns that he has to start wearing hearing aids. The hearing aids he must wear are large and clunky, and are attached to a headband. Auggie thinks he looks like Lobot from Star Wars and protests at first, but then he turns the hearing aids on and is amazed by how well he can hear. He calls the new sensation "hearing brightly." Auggie is surprised that no one makes a big deal out of his hearing aids when he goes back to school.

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Later, Auggie's mom finds out that Via did not tell her about the school play and gets very angry. Auggie asks about the play at dinner, and his parents try to say that it’s not a play for kids his age and that he’d be bored; however, Auggie realizes what is going on: Via doesn’t want her high school friends to know about him. Auggie runs up to his room and waits for his mom to come up and comfort him, but she never does—instead, Via comes to see him, saying that Daisy is very sick and that Auggie needs to come say goodbye.

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Daisy is old and has been having problems lately, but after Auggie went upstairs she started whimpering and panting, clearly in pain. The vet found a huge mass in her stomach that was making it hard for her to breathe. The Pullman parents had Daisy put to sleep because they didn’t want her to suffer anymore. Auggie had never seen his father cry until that night. The whole family is distraught, and Auggie thinks about Daisy as he falls asleep that night.

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Via eventually brings home three tickets to her school play for her parents and Auggie: the fight is never spoken of again. Miranda is the lead female character, Emily, and Via is her understudy. But when the play starts, it's Via playing Emily, not Miranda. The play is incredible, and Via and Justin deliver exceptional performances. The Pullmans make their way backstage to congratulate the actors and actresses, and Via says that Miranda got sick right before the show started. As Auggie's parents and Via walk around in the crowd, Auggie suddenly finds himself alone—until someone hugs him from behind, and he realizes that it’s Miranda.

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The novel's perspective switches to Miranda. Miranda begins by talking about the previous summer, when her parents got divorced. She hardly saw her father after that, and her mother became very distant. Miranda went to camp that summer. She knew no one there, so she decided to reinvent herself and tell lies when people asked about her life. One day, she told people that she has a little brother who is facially deformed, because in the heat of the moment it seemed like an interesting thing to say. Miranda knew that spreading such a lie is wrong, but she’s known Auggie for so much of his life that she felt entitled to it.

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Miranda continued telling these lies and grew more popular. Eventually, when she went home, she decided to reconnect with her friend Ella but to leave out Via, since Ella wouldn’t ask her a lot of questions about summer that she wouldn’t want to answer. During the school year, Miranda barely sees Via, and she and Ella badmouth Via behind her back because it’s easier to alienate her that way.

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Miranda joins the theater elective primarily because she sees Via's name on the list. She then lies to the director, Mr. Davenport, and says that the school cannot perform The Elephant Man because she has a little brother with a birth defect. Her family, supposedly, would have an issue with this play. After Mr. Davenport switches to Our Town, Miranda auditions for the role of Emily because Via is also trying out for it, not knowing that she would win out over Via.

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The opening night of the play arrives, but nobody from Miranda's family can be there. She peeks through the stage curtain and sees Via's whole family and makes a decision. She tells Mr. Davenport that she doesn’t feel well and can’t perform. He disputes her decision, but Miranda refuses to go onstage, so Mr. Davenport sends someone to find Via and tell her that she will be playing Miranda's part. Via sees through Miranda's lie and asks why she is backing out of her role, but before Miranda can answer it’s time for Via to go on.

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Miranda finds Auggie and runs up behind him to hug him, happy to see him after so long. His parents also spot Miranda and invite her out to dinner with them to celebrate the show. Miranda is hesitant at first, but then Via comes up, puts an arm around her, and insists that she join the Pullmans. Miranda notes that for the first time in a long time she feels absolutely happy.

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The final section of the novel begins with Auggie and his class preparing for their fifth grade nature retreat, which takes place over three days and two nights at a nature reserve in Pennsylvania. Luckily, Julian has decided that a nature trip is too dorky for him, and Auggie is happy that he doesn’t have to deal with more of his hostility. The Beecher Prep students move into their cabins and go on hikes through the woods for the rest of the day, then hang out by a campfire after dark. Auggie sleeps well and has a great time; he even writes a letter to Mom, Dad, and Via about all the things he and the other students are doing.

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The Beecher Prep students go to an outdoor movie the following night, and are joined by students from other schools on the same trip. Auggie and his friends get there first and lay out their sleeping bags in front of the screen. The movie, The Sound of Music, starts and Auggie and Jack watch for a while until Jack tells Auggie he needs to use the bathroom. They get up to find a bathroom, but there’s is a huge line, so they go into the woods.

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When Jack and Auggie try to leave the woods, they run into a group of older kids who smell like firecrackers and cigarettes. These kids shine a flashlight at Auggie's face and start freaking out, calling him Gollum and a other offensive names. Jack tries to confront them, but they do not let up, and the situation is looking bad until suddenly Henry, Amos, and Miles show up and tell the older kids to back off. As they start to walk back to the movie, the guy leading the older kids, Eddie, grabs the hood of Auggie’s sweatshirt and yanks him to the ground. This starts a fight between the two sides.

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The Beecher Prep group keeps running until the older kids are far enough. Henry, Amos, and Miles tell Jack and Auggie that they had seen the guys before, so they knew that the older students were there. Auggie and his friends realize that they have ended up in the cornfields, and try to head back towards the movie. Auggie's sweatshirt has ripped, but worse, he lost his hearing aids in the fight. Overwhelmed, Auggie starts to cry, and everyone starts to comfort him.

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Everyone talks about what happened on the bus home the next day, and everyone is concerned for Auggie; however, the nature reserve reimburses Auggie for the cost of his hearing aids. Auggie and his mother wait for his dad to come home from work with Via. When he does, he brings a surprise: a cardboard box with a puppy in it, which they name Bear. When he goes back to school, Auggie notices that things have changed. He is now known for his bravery, and Henry, Miles, and Amos now welcome him as one of them.

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During their last English class, Mr. Browne instructs the students to send in their own precepts during the summer. Fifth grade graduation is the following day, and in passing conversation, Dad admits that he threw out that old astronaut helmet, rather than lost it. This upsets Auggie, but his father insists that he couldn’t stand to see it covering Auggie's face anymore, because while Auggie might not love his face, his father does.

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All the students take their seats for graduation, and Mr. Tushman makes a speech about the importance of being kind, no matter what. There is a long portion of the ceremony dedicated to awards. First, the Honor Roll, which Auggie gets, and other academic excellence awards, which Ximena Chin and Charlotte win. Summer is awarded the gold medal in creative writing, and the final award is the Henry Ward Beecher medal to honor students who have shown exemplary character throughout the school year. This year, the school has decided to give it to someone who has shown great courage, kindness, and friendship, and award it to Auggie. Everyone cheers on August as he walks to the stage to accept this award.

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Afterwards, there is a reception, and Auggie's family congratulates him. As they walk back to their home, his mother reaches down to whisper in Auggie's ear and thanks him for everything he has given them, and for being himself. She tells him that he really is a wonder.