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Once (Once Series, 1) Paperback – March 19, 2013
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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 They must be foreign librarians sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library.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.
- Reading age12 - 18 years
- Print length192 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level2 - 9
- Lexile measure640L
- Dimensions5.4 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches
- PublisherSquare Fish
- Publication dateMarch 19, 2013
- ISBN-100312653042
- ISBN-13978-0312653040
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (rev. 9/06), this Holocaust parable plays its main character's naiveté against readers' likely knowledge of the historical realities, but here the juxtaposition is believable and not at all precious; like The Book Thief (rev. 3/06), the novel extols the power of storytelling in the face of tragedy, but Once pits Felix's stories against even deeper ugliness. ... Gleitzman manages to find a grain of hope in the unresolved (and likely dire) conclusion, but this is the rare Holocaust book for young readers that doesn't alleviate its dark themes with a comforting ending.” ―The Horn Book, Starred Review
“This gripping novel will make readers want to find out more” ―Booklist
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Product details
- Publisher : Square Fish; Reprint edition (March 19, 2013)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 192 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0312653042
- ISBN-13 : 978-0312653040
- Reading age : 12 - 18 years
- Lexile measure : 640L
- Grade level : 2 - 9
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.4 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #44,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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It's 1942, and Felix has lived in a Polish Orphanage for 3 years and 8 months since his parents left him there. They are Jewish and owned a bookstore in town, but they made a deal with Mother Minka to hide Felix, but they told him they were just going to take care of some bookstore business and be back. They still haven't returned. So Felix passes the day writing stories about them saving people and being brave in the outside world. When Felix gets a whole carrot in his soup one day, he decides it is a sign from his parents that they are coming to get him. When Mother Minka sadly tells him it isn't a sign, he decides to leave the orphanage to find them. After watching a group of Nazis come to the orphanage and burn Jewish books, he is worried his parents' books are in danger, and he knows he has to go help.
On his way into town, Felix comes across a lot of puzzling situations. First, he tries to hitch a ride on a cattle truck that is full of people, but a soldier on top of the truck shoots at him. He assumes it must have been a mistake and actually feels bad for the soldier who must be upset he accidentally shot at a little kid. Then he goes to his parents' bookstore, but the books are all gone and a local Christian family is living in his house (and threaten to turn him in to the Nazis). Finally he happens upon a farmhouse in flames and discovers a mother and father shot (and all the chickens) and a young girl who is barely alive. He drags her away from the flames and the car coming back to the scene, saving her from whoever did this.
At first Zelda is upset, but then she is just plain difficult, arguing with everything Felix says. When they get caught by Nazi soldiers and taken to the ghetto, it is her determination not to lose Felix, though, that saves them both. When a Nazi soldier tries to separate them, a large Jewish man offers the soldier something in German and he allows the man to take the kids. Barney, the man, takes Felix and Zelda and hides them with the other children he has saved in the ghetto. It is hear that Felix begins to learn the truth about the Nazis and what they are really doing to the Jews. When the ghetto gets emptied, Barney and the kids have no choices but to be packed into the trains with the other Jews. You might think all was lost at this point, but at some point, Felix's luck has to change!
This was such a beautiful little book (150 pgs). I loved Felix so much I just wanted to gather him up and keep him safe. He is so sweet and innocent and just wants to protect his parents. His naivete about the Holocaust was so scary and endearing at the same time, it broke my heart. But something I think kids might relate to is the fact that he is just a kid. He does kid things like protect kids from bullies in the orphanage and make up wild, fanciful stories. Yet, at the same time, he is stuck in this time period that has been written about, talked about and filmed ever since it ended. I think kids can relate to his childish ideas and that alone makes this story more powerful than others. They can imagine how they might feel if they were in the same situation.
The story is very short and perfect for any middle school student, but its beauty lies within the multiple layers that can be pulled back for a wide age range of people. For a middle school student, this story might be a face-value story about a boy in the Holocaust, but for an older student, this can be a way to quickly examine the plagues of war, such as the loss of life and innocence. It gives them a chance to delve deeper into the consequences of war. This is quite simply a beautiful story and as sad as it made me to read it, it also made me hopeful for Felix and for the growth of the young people I work with each and every day.
Because the first element is the title "Once" a reminiscent of our past "once upon time" and then the most powerful phrase "You know how" this implies that from now we are a part of this book, technically speaking a perfect introduction of the 3rd person omniscient.
This is also a masterpiece of mysterious contradiction when he declare, that he is living in an orphanage and after some paragraph he will say.....
" I'll have to say good-bye to everyone here soon. That makes me feel sad. And when the other kids see Mum and Dad are alive, they'll now I haven't been truthful with them. That makes me feel even sadder" (page 5)
In my opinion this is a strategy for continuing our reading, which is also reinvigorated by an enigmatic conclusion of phrases like
"you pray to God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Pope and Adolph Hitler?", automatically you'll ask to yourself if there will be a connection between the religion and the dictator?
Even the second chapter is entitled "Once"
Once upon time the childhood of the main character is now at risk, thanks to the delirium of a human being: Hitler, which is introduced in the following form:
"I stare, numb with disappointment. it's not Mum and Dad. It's just a bunch of men in suits with armbands"
One second ago our main character was happy because he was waiting for his parents after two long and endless years.
Reading this line I felt the sensation of the imminent atrocities of that time through the eyes of a child.
"I have another though. That poor soldier. Tonight in the barracks he'll hardly be able to swallow his dinner he'll be so upset. All he wanted to do was play a little trick, and now he thinks he's shot an innocent kid." (page 35)
In brief this phrase summarise a fierce war between the age of innocence and the adult world which has been corrupted by our selfish genes due to a wrong human evolution and Felix will be maintain his "virginity" of his soul?
At the end of this tale all your question are answered.
You will be able to feel the love of an unknown parents for their son Felix in order to preserve him from the evil.
"You know how when you jump off a moving train and the Nazi shoot at you with machine guns and you see sharp tree stumps coming at you and then you hit the ground so hard you feel like you've smashed your head open and bullets have gone through your chest and you don't survive even though you prayed to God, Jesus, Mary the Pope, and Richmal Crompton? that's what's happened to poor Chaya
(Once, Morris Gleitzman, page 149)
I never jumped out from a train, but reading this phrase so realistic, I felt like Chaya. a small part of me has died with her, in particular the awareness of the pros and cons of having a free will and hoping in a divine punishment for those direct and indirect supporters of the holocaust.
IP
Top reviews from other countries
I would recommend it to people over the age of 9 or 10 because it is about death and Adolf Hitler. Parents would like this book as well, and it is also good for people who like history.
There are some details about deaths in WW2. It gave me the shivers and made me feel really sad.
This book was really nice and I hope you really enjoy it like I did.
Una forma diferente, amena y muy buena de contarle a los más pequeños de casa, qué fue el Holocausto. Muy recomendable.