Stunningly beautiful. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried reading this.

White Bird expands the family backstory of the character Julian that we know from Wonder. In that story Julian is a bully. In this story, he regrets his actions in bullying Auggie and wants to do a school project on showing humanity. To do this project, he decides to interview his grandmother, who was a young Jewish girl living in France during World War II. She experienced the Holocaust and all of its horrors first-hand. She tells her story to her grandson, Julian and through reliving the painful past with his grandmother, Julian comes to understand that "evil will only be stopped when good people decide to put an end to it." He then takes that message into his present-day American life and becomes an ally to refugees lobbying for asylum at the United States border.

The ONLY criticisms I have seen for this book (and they are certainly NOT my criticisms) are that this book draws parallels between the Holocaust and the current US border crisis where children are separated from their families. Critics have said that this cheapens the experience of those who faced the Holocaust somehow. I do not agree. Evil does not have to be on the scale of 11 million to still be evil. One person's current suffering is not lessened because 11 million before them have suffered also. I feel that critics have missed the mark with this book. They probably also missed the end of Ruth Franklin's letter at the end of the story.

"White Bird ends with a call to resist contemporary manifestations of prejudice and xenophobia. One needn't necessarily agree with the direct line the book draws from Nazi Germany to current events to be moved by its encouragement to stand up against tyranny and cruelty wherever we may find them, from the treatment of refugees to the tormenting of a disabled child in school. Sara's story has the power to transform her grandson from a bully into an ally. It might transform you, too. "

There's no message more powerful than this. Fans of Wonder will love this message and the way that it expands a story they already love.

** For parents and teachers, this book does show a couple of brutal scenes. They are important. The art style is not gory or overly bloody. Teachers who teach [b:The Diary of Anne Frank: And Related Readings|5515|The Diary of Anne Frank And Related Readings|Frances Goodrich|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348033366l/5515._SY75_.jpg|42419722], [b:The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|39999|The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|John Boyne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1366228171l/39999._SY75_.jpg|1148702], [b:Number the Stars|47281|Number the Stars|Lois Lowry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1370917812l/47281._SY75_.jpg|2677305], [b:The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426l/19063._SY75_.jpg|878368], or any other literature from or about this time period in history should present this book as a visual version of a similar story. All teachers need this in their libraries. All students need this book. **