White Bird: A Wonder Story

Julien took Sara to see the bluebells that just came into bloom in the forest. The pair confessed their feelings for each other, as well as their hope of a future together after the war ended. They shared a kiss. Back at the barn, Sara gave Julien her sketchbook before he bid her goodbye; she did not know that this was the last time she would ever see him. That night, Sara “sleeps more peacefully than [she) had ever slept before” (141). She dreamt of walking through the bluebells in the forest, before a flock of white birds surround her and lift her up into flight, depicted by the accompanying illustrations (142).

The chapter opens with a full-page illustration depicting a page from Sara’s sketchbook, in which she confessed her love for Julien (143). Julien read her sketchbook, and his mother noted that he was exceptionally “bright and cheery” the next morning, before he left for school. On the way to school, however, Julien was accosted by officers who forcibly took him away. He dropped his things in the struggle, including Sara’s sketchbook. Vincent, who was assumed to have ordered the arrest, witnessed this and picked up the book. He realized Sara was hiding in the barn and headed off to find her.

Something woke Sara up in time to spot Vincent approaching. An accompanying panel shows a white bird at the window (149). The light streaming in from her corner of the hayloft alerted Vincent to Sara’s location. Vincent began shooting in her direction, and the bullets peppered holes through the roof. This allowed Sara to climb up and punch her way through the weakened roof. Illustrations show her escaping into the woods, as Vincent chases her, shooting at her all the while (152-153). Just as she tired of hiding behind trees and readied to confront Vincent, she spotted the same wolf from her dream.

The wolf recognized Sara, and she felt reassured that it wouldn’t hurt her. However, the pause led Vincent to lunge at her, and the wolf in turn attacked and killed him before disappearing into the forest again. As Sara approached Vincent’s corpse, she found Julien’s bag. She realized what happened, she ran to find Vivienne.

Not caring whether the Lafleurs spotted her, Sara ran to the Beaumiers’ front door. When no one answers, she climbed in through a window and searched the empty house. Hearing voices from the stairs and not realizing that it adjoined the neighboring house, she headed in that direction and found Rabbi Bernstein and his wife there.

Just as Rabbi Bernstein recognized Sara to be Max Blum’s daughter, Monsieur Lafleur entered with a gun. Rabbi Bernstein urged him to put it away, asserting that he knew Sara. The group realized that the Beaumiers and the Lafleurs had each taken the other to be Nazi conspirators, when in truth both families were hiding Jews—just as Sara was hiding in the barn, the Bernsteins were hiding in the Lafleurs’ attic.

The Bernsteins were in the process of being smuggled out by the Armée Juive (a Zionist resistance). Sara refused to go with them, quoting Julien’s arrest. The Lafleurs promised to keep Sara safe until the Beaumiers return, and the Bernsteins left. They eventually made it safely to Palestine by the end of the year.

In the Lafleurs’ attic, Sara told them about everything that happened. Vivienne eventually returned and was relieved to find Sara safe. She and Jean-Paul already knew about Julien but had not been able to find him yet. Jean-Paul went to investigate whether Julien was grouped with prisoners arrested from a hospital. The Lafleurs offered Vivienne their savings to bribe the guards and find Julien; Monsieur Lafleur and Vivienne left to try again with the money.

Sara stayed hidden in the Lafleurs’ attic; looking out the window, she felt a “familiar tug of the sky, calling [her) soul” (170). Illustrations show a white bird, indicating Sara’s “soul,” flying over the mountains in the Mernuit as a truck below drives through a winding road (171). The truck was transporting prisoners to Aubervilliers but was stopped by Nazi guards who ordered the officers to get rid of the prisoners, as Aubervilliers was full already.

On the false pretense of a bathroom break, the guards ordered the prisoners to exit the truck and walk through the woods. The prisoners, Julien among them, realized that they were about to be shot, and decided to make a run for it together. A panel displays a white bird in the sky above the truck, watching the scene play out (172).

The white bird whispers in Julien’s ear: “Julien, can you hear me?” (173) Simultaneously, Julien appears to remember the game Sara used to play with her Papa. As Julien prepares to flee, alternating panels depict Sara and Julien whispering the words to Papa’s game to themselves:

‘How high will you fly?’

‘As high as the sky.’

‘How fast will you go?’

‘As fast as a crow.’

‘Then close your eyes.’

‘Time to rise’ (173-75).

Vivienne and Monsieur Lafleur arrived and successfully bribed the officers, but was too late. The guards started shooting, and the prisoners made a run for it; Julien was killed in the process. While it is not clear how he died, Sara believed that “his soul rose up that morning…free of his body…free of all his earthly limitations. Free as a bird” (177). Accompanying illustrations depict Julien dropping his crutches, running, and rising into the air bathed in light; another panel carries a full-page illustration of a white bird flying amongst sun-dappled trees, as a crutch lies among the bluebells beneath (177-178).

Julien’s body was never found; this is disclosed alongside a full-page illustration of Julien as a translucent figure against the backdrop of bluebells in the forest (179). Vivienne was not allowed to approach the site of the shooting, as the Nazis denied that such an incident ever took place.

Later that day, a German battalion headed through the same roads to Normandy, to prevent the Allies from landing. They, in turn, were attacked by the Maquis. In a counterattack by the Germans which saw the maquisards greatly outnumbered, many maquisards died and their bodies were similarly never recovered. Illustrative panels depict flocks of white birds rising into the sky (180-81). After the war, their names, along with those of the hospital prisoners who were killed, were memorialized; Julien’s name was missing, since there is no proof that he was with the group. While Sara is sure Julien died with the group that day, the Beaumiers held out hope that he escaped, and never gave up trying to find him.

Sara stayed with the Beaumiers for the remainder of the war, returning to school when it was over; everything felt different and sad. However, in the winter of 1945, she received a telegram from Papa. He managed to stay hidden during the first round-up, even waiting for Maman and Sara in vain; eventually, he escaped to Switzerland with the help of the Maquis. After the war, Papa moved back to Paris and began looking for his family again. While six million Jews, including Papa’s cousins, Maman, and Sara’s friends from school had been killed by the Nazis, Papa eventually found Sara.

In January 1946, Sara moved to Paris with Papa; bidding the Beaumiers goodbye was hard, and Sara gave Vivienne the scarf that Mademoiselle Petitijean gave Sara. Sara visited them every summer, and they eventually walked her down the aisle alongside Papa when she got married; they were moved by Sara’s choice to name her son “Julian.” Sara “never forgot their many kindnesses to (her)” (185). The chapter concludes with a full-page illustration of a white bird perched atop a tombstone sporting the names, birth and death dates, and photographs of the three Beaumiers (186).

The Epilogue begins with a quote by Anne Frank which asserts that though past events cannot be undone, they can be prevented from repeating.

In the present-day (the year 2019), Grandmère concludes her story. Julian is moved to tears, wondering how millions of Jews could have been killed while the world did nothing. Grandmère asserts that “[evil] is only stopped when good people finally come together to put an end to it” (190) and asks Julian to promise that he will always speak out and fight against injustice. Julian agrees, telling Grandmère that he loves her and is proud to be her grandson. Touched, Grandmère reciprocates the feeling and bids Julian goodnight. After hanging up, Grandmère reaches for a casket from which she retrieves Julien’s whittled bird and gazes at it fondly.

A month later, Grandmère reads the newspaper and is upset by headlines that indicate refugees being turned away, the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia across the world, and children being separated from parents under President Trump’s “Zero Tolerance Policy.” As she wonders whether humanity has learned nothing, she hears a tap on the window—a white bird greets her. Illustrations depict the bird departing, flying over cities and oceans, and arriving in New York City, where a protest is being held in the streets (200-03). The final page sports a full-page illustration of Julian, holding high a banner that reads “Never Again #WeRemember” (204), atop which sits the white bird.