I’ve never read Wonder (am I the only person left who hasn’t?), and hadn’t heard of White Bird before either, until I went to a movie theater over the weekend and saw a trailer for the film adaptation of White Bird… and just had to know more about it. Luckily, my library had a copy available to borrow immediately, and I read the whole book over the course of a day.

White Bird is a middle-grade graphic novel, with the bulk of the story set in occupied France during the Holocaust. The framing device is a contemporary story about a boy named Julian (who apparently is a character from Wonder). Julian’s grandmother speaks to him about kindness and helping others, and shares her own story with him for the first time.

In the tale within a tale, Sara is a young girl living a charmed life with her parents in a small town in France, where she attends a lovely school, has good friends, and is very happy. The family is Jewish, but doesn’t fear for their own safety at first, even as the Nazis invade France. They live in the free zone, and feel secure knowing that they are French citizens. Even as Jews are restricted in their movements and forced to wear yellow stars, Sara’s parents don’t feel a need to escape, until suddenly it is too late.

At school, Sara sits in her assigned seat beside a boy called by the nickname Torteau in all her classes. Having survived polio, the boy is mocked and treated cruelly by their classmates due to his twisted legs and reliance on crutches. While not actively mean to Torteau, Sara isn’t friendly either — she mostly ignores him, until one day she drops her sketchbook and the boy returns it to her.

When Nazis arrive at school one day and order all the Jewish children to come with them, Sara hides instead, and it’s only a matter of time until she’s discovered — but Torteau finds her first, shows her a secret tunnel out of the school, and brings her to hide in his family’s barn. The boy’s name is actually Julien, and he and his parents become Sara’s protectors for years to come, keeping her hidden, safe, and cared for while the world falls apart around them.

I won’t say more about the plot, but it’s powerful, heartbreaking, and lovely. The graphic novel’s art style is simple but affecting, and mixes in Sara’s sketches and dreams with her day-to-day experiences in a way that lends a magical feel to key scenes.

The author includes a great deal of historical notes at the end that are informative and yet easy to digest, and this section seems like it would be very accessible and helpful for younger readers who are new to reading about the Holocaust.

Themes of love, loyalty, friendship, taking a stand when witnessing wrong-doing, and helping those in need are strongly depicted without being preachy or heavy-handed.

White Bird is a powerful, moving reading experience that actually brought me to tears at certain points — not something I typically expect when I pick up a graphic novel.

I highly recommend this book, and plan to check out the movie version when it’s released. Meanwhile, having finally tasted this author’s storytelling, I hope to read Wonder in the near future as well.