I read this, what I had thought was a trilogy, over break and while it may be for kids I suggest having an adult nearby so kids can ask questions. I’m not sure if there are answers to “Why are people so heinous?” But they’re going to be asking that after these books.

This is because Morris Gleitzman’s Once series follows ten-year old Felix after he leaves the Christian orphanage his parents placed him in to warn them of the Nazis trying to burn Jewish books.

As he crosses the Polish countryside, getting trapped in ghettos, befriending the stubborn six-year old Zelda, almost committing suicide through human bomb, and numerous close calls, Felix comes to see the full extent of hatred and persecution directed towards Jews just because they’re Jews.

It’s hard book. I mean I know what happens, my mom is very fascinated in reading real life and fictionalized accounts of life during WW2, that’s why she gave this to me. And even though I know what happens, I’m still shocked and saddened with each death Felix contends with. Gleitzman has a delicate touch in moving readers’ emotions to follow with Felix’s, feeling such hope that they can make it before reality crushes in with death and despair.

There is a little hope in here, even in the realistic tragedy Felix is living in, that hope comes from storytelling. Felix is a very imaginative kid, and that imagination helps him and others as it keeps him going and helps him remember. Stories is how Felix, and we as humans, make sense of the world and Gleitzman shows its power throughout the series.

As I said, it is realistic but well-done in keeping it to a child’s view of the world. Felix doesn’t quite get everything that is happening around him, but comes to the realizations and grows, expanding his world for the better and the worse with topics like Jew-Christian friendship, PTSD, and how children are affected by war and fascism.

I’m not saying children shouldn’t read this. They definately should as Gleitzman provides questions at the end of the book that would be quite educational if a teacher wanted to do a WW2 section, but it’s realistic and just sad as you know all the deaths depicted here have their real life counterparts.