Reviews with content warning for War - White Bird - Wie ein Vogel (Graphic Novel): Von der Erfolgsautorin von Wunder

I think this is a fantastic graphic novel to introduce the Holocaust and WWII to elementary readers. It shows the ways that Nazis perpetrated atrocities against Jewish people and others they deemed unfit (like the disabled) without being overwhelmingly dark. However, it still deals with the darkness and tragedy of this time, not shying away from the death that was present within the narrator's experience. Wonder readers will enjoy the connection to characters they are familiar with, but it certainly not necessary to have read Wonder to enjoy this book. The back matter gives lots of other historical context, and the epilogue connects it to the present day for readers.

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im_just_vidu's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I was worried that I might not have 5 star reads in this year. And now I don't have that worry. The only thing I regret is that I didn't read 'wonder' even though I own it for about 3 years now. I should've read it before. Then I would've known better about things. I didn't shed tears, but my heart felt the pain. Even though this is fiction, knowing that this might've been someone's real story, it really pains me.
Julien, I want to know more about you and read 'wonder' for that, but at the same time I don't want to. It's like when you know the end of the story, you are no longer wants to know about the beginning. I like how they portraited the past and present with each other. Learning from the past and make a good future is good. There were so many things that anyone could've learned from that.
This makes me want to read "Anne Frank's diary" as well. I think I should read that too. I hope I'll be able to come back to this after finish reading those books.

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ricksilva's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This graphic novel companion-piece to Palacio's prose novel, Wonder, takes place in the same continuity, telling the story of Julian's Grandmere and her story of survival in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

Sarah tries to live a normal life, doing her best to put the horrors of the war far from her mind. It's not too difficult at first, as life in the "free" region of France has not changed much. But the horrors are coming faster than Sarah imagines, and in a single terrible day she is separated from friends and family and forced into hiding, depending on the support of a fellow student and his family to care for her and hide her.

White Bird mixes historically-accurate reality that holds back none of the terrible details of Holocaust, and punctuates it with fairytale moments of magic realism that are highlighted by the beauty of the artwork.

The story takes a big step toward redeeming Julian, the "villain" of Wonder, without ever making his present-day situation the focus. The story is full of moments of tragedy and acts of selfless courage, and it does a great job of incorporating small details through both words and art.

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allisonwatkins's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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stuff4bd's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

As a middle grade graphic novel, this book is not heavy on details. The glossary at the end provides a good overview to the main issues. Anyone reading this with a school age child should consider it a stepping off point for a much broader discussion. Also, a great tie in via the epilogue to current issues.

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