R.J. Palacio presents WHITE BIRD at Coolidge Corner Theatre

In R. J. Palacio’s bestselling collection of stories Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, readers were introduced to Julian’s grandmother, Grandmère. Here, Palacio makes her graphic novel debut with Grandmère’s heartrending story: how she, a young Jewish girl, was hidden by a family in a Nazi-occupied French village during World War II, and how the boy she and her classmates once shunned became her savior and best friend.

R. J. Palacio lives in New York City with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. Her books include 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts, Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories, and We’re All Wonders. For more than twenty years she was an art director and graphic designer, designing book jackets for other people while waiting for the perfect time in her life to start writing her own novel. But several years ago a chance encounter with an extraordinary child in front of an ice cream store made R. J. realize that the perfect time to write that novel had finally come. Wonder is her first novel. She did not design the cover, but she sure does love it.