Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen and illustrated by Violeta Encarnación was a WOW book. It was not necessarily the story itself (though that is pretty wild) it was the way it was formatted that really made it work for me. It is a fantastic circular story that shows how history can repeat. But not only that, the text is repeated. We start with a young girl who is behind a fence in the 1940s. How she gets there, the thoughts and feelings she has are poetically set out. Then those words and actions are reversed so we see a modern day girl (presenting as Hispanic) hiking to (assuming) the States. She and her group are taken into custody and her journey really starts and we see those same words as we say with the first girl, but now in reversed order. 
The illustrations are soft, hopeful, as they show the darkness of humanity when forced behind the barbed wire. Yet, there is a tone of hope as well, making me assume it is so it will cut the harshness of things. They are dark, but with light. The contrasts of shadows and the light, which colors and how much detail is given sets mood and tone. Both the words and illustrations work together to paint the larger picture. It is not always a nice one, but it does not dive too deeply into the darkness, there is some interpretation. However, it is completely current events so you can make it fit whichever people you want it to fit.
Read via an online reader copy, due late March-early April 2026. But it’s already on my top 10 (even perhaps top 5) reads for 2025.