R. J. Palacio

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What challenges does Sara face in White Bird by R. J. Palacio?

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In R. J. Palacio's White Bird, Sara, a Jewish girl living in France during World War II, must hide from the Nazis. She takes refuge in the Breumier family's barn, but she does not know what has happened to her parents. Her friend Julien is killed by the Nazis because he is disabled. Sara must endure many hardships and much fear, but she survives.

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In White Bird by R. J. Palacio, Sara Blum grows up in a French village and attends school there. She has a good life with her parents until World War II begins. The Blums are Jewish, and soon Sara's world turns upside down. When the Nazis come to round up the Jews, Sara manages to hide in the school bell tower, where she is found by her classmate Julien Breumier. Julien hides Sara in the barn on their property, and his parents take care of her for many months. A friendship grows up between Sara and Julien as Sara learns to see beyond his disability (he is crippled from polio), and eventually the two begin to fall in love.

There is a great deal of danger and sadness in Sara's life, however. No one can find her parents. She does not know for sure until much later what has happened to them. Her mother dies in a concentration camp, but her father escapes. Sara continues to live in the Breumier barn, but a bullying classmate, Vincent, who has now begun to work for the Nazis, eventually discovers Sara's secret. Julien is taken away because of his disability, and Sara flees into the forest. Vincent is killed by a wolf who mysteriously defends Sara, but Julien is shot by the Nazis.

Sara continues to live in hiding with the Breumiers throughout the rest of the war, for apparently, Vincent had not told anyone else about Sara. Eventually she is reunited with her father, but her mother has passed away. Sara chooses to focus on the love, kindness, and light that she has found during the war, but that does not, of course, completely erase the fear, horror, and hardship she has experienced.

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