Julian’s Grandmère was introduced in the 2015 companion book Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories, and the book came about after Palacio received emails about parents and teachers about the character. “They wrote to tell me that they thought the story was the perfect, age-appropriate introduction to themes of the Holocaust for their students,” Palacio told Publishers Weekly. “Those issues are so dark and hard to talk about that the Holocaust is actually not covered in most school curricula until the seventh grade, when many students are assigned to read Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. In my opinion, that first exposure comes way too late in the game.” She also commented telling this story felt more urgent in the wake of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
The book marks a return to Palacio’s roots, as she was an illustrator before writing Wonder. “I had a couple of different motivations for doing ‘White Bird’ as a graphic novel,” she said. “One was that I wanted to get it out there as quickly as possible, given the story’s timeliness, and I thought I could create a graphic novel faster — but my goodness, both the writing and drawing have taken me a long time!”
For more from Palacio, head on over to Publishers Weekly. “White Bird: A Wonder Story” will be released in September 2019.
