Once

0.0

5.0 (1)

125 0

Write Review Add to favorites

Author(s)

Morris Gleitzman

Publisher

Henry Holt & Co. (BYR)

Genre(s)

Historical Fiction

Age Range

12+

Release Date

March 30, 2010

ISBN

0805090266

Buy This Book

Felix, a Jewish boy in Poland in 1942, is hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage. The only problem is that he doesn't know anything about the war, and thinks he's only in the orphanage while his parents travel and try to salvage their bookselling business. And when he thinks his parents are in danger, Felix sets off to warn them--straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland.

To Felix, everything is a story: Why did he get a whole carrot in his soup? It must be sign that his parents are coming to get him. Why are the Nazis burning books? They must be foreign librarians sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library. But as Felix's journey gets increasingly dangerous, he begins to see horrors that not even stories can explain.

Despite his grim suroundings, Felix never loses hope. Morris Gleitzman takes a painful subject and expertly turns it into a story filled with love, friendship, and even humor.

User reviews

1 review

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0(1)

Characters

5.0(1)

Writing Style

5.0(1)

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A(0)

Already have an account? or Create an account

Childish Innocence

August 27, 2012

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

N/A

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Once is about Felix, a 10 year old Jewish boy who lives in an orphanage, in Poland, 1942. He gets a message from his parents in the form as a carrot in his soup. He runs away in the search of his long-lost parents, and ends up caught in with the rest of the Jewish.

What killed was Felix and Zelda's innocence. They knew nothing about what was happening and why. Felix thought that the Nazis were here to burn all the Jewish bookseller's books and arrest them. He thought that the Nazi that shot directly at him had misfired his gun, and it was all a mistake. But it wasn't, but they didn't know that. They thought one thing, but it was the total opposite.

This story had great plot, and captured everything a child Felix's age would do. It is not like some young adult world war two books, were it is about teenage love and the person knows everything that is happening, but it is about how they knew NOTHING.

This book broke my heart, and it surely will and would of done to everyone's else. This book needs to read so that the children who knew nothing and did nothing will not be forgotten.