Once (Once Series, 1)

This series is extremely interesting and you learn a lot of history.

When I was in high school, I went to Germany on a school trip. In Germany, we went to Dachau, a concentration camp that has been turned into a memorial/museum. The emotions I felt at Dachau have never left me. The vast camp was completely silent except for the crunch of visitors' feet on the gravel. The pain within those gates was so strong, we couldn't even speak to one another. But more and more, I find my students are finding themselves disconnected from the Holocaust. Sure, they know the mass murder to millions of people is horrendous, but they really can't fathom the fear and agony felt by so many. We read books, we watch movies, but it is hard to grasp the same emotions I felt the moment I stepped foot into Dachau so many years ago. Therefore, as an educator, it becomes very hard to find quality books that will knock my students around emotionally the same way Night by Elie Wiesel did the first time I read it in high school. Once, by Morris Gleitzman knocked me around, and will certainly open the eyes of any jaded student. 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.

A fascinating look into the fears of a child abandoned by his parents in Nazi-controlled Poland. One feels 'you are there'. Easy to read and hard to put down. I can't wait to read Then, Now and After also by Gleitzmann

Once you've opened this novel you will be immediately conscious of his strong symbolism regarding a sad childhood - why? 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

Great book! My 8th grader loves it and enticed him to keep reading more in the series .

Once is a powerful and wrenching story. Ten-year-old Felix, who has spent several years in a Polish orphanage, does not realize that Nazis have overrun his town and killed his parents. He's an innocent and imaginative boy, who invents optimistic explanations for the chaos and violence he sees around him outside the orphanage. But there's no escaping the truth of the Nazis' barbarism. As Felix becomes more and more aware of the dangers surrounding him, he gains a level of strength and courage that those of us who did not experience the Holocaust can barely imagine. The story, written from Felix's point of view, piles sadness upon sadness, and shows the horror of those times. I found it mesmerizing, and I plan to read the other two books in the series. Once is an important story for readers who are ready for books that, while fascinating, are overwhelmingly tragic.

As a teacher I am always trying to find wonderful books for my shelves. This is a whole series based around the Holocaust and its aftermath on people. I definitely recommended it to my students. Felix is a young Jewish boy living a hidden life in an orphanage. He believes his parents will be coming for him any day. He has been at the orphanage for three years. One day the Nazis’s visit the orphanage and find Jewish books which they take to the courtyard to burn. Felix is horrified that they would burn these books. His parents owned a book store. He decides he is going to have to find and save his parents and their books. He prays for help to God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Pope and Hitler. This gives us an indication that he has no idea what is going on in the world. Later he adds in the name of his favorite author and removes Hitler’s name. He gets himself and others out of trouble by telling stories. I think it was Felix’s love of books that helped me connect to him. He runs away from the orphanage and rescues a young girl whose parents are killed. It seems to be his mission to help others as he tries to find his parents. This is a wonderful book highly recommended. Be advised that the author does not water down what the Nazis were like or the atrocities they inflicted on others.

This is an incredible story of Felix, a young Jewish boy left at an orphanage by his parents. He is clueless as to what is unfolding throughout Poland as the Nazis invade and begin to round up those of the Jewish faith. Felix decides to run away from the orphanage to find his parents. As he makes his way home, his innocence about the war and the Nazis is slowly lost. He comes across a young girl, Zelda who is left for dead. As he begins to understand what is truly happening, his priority becomes to keep Zelda safe. I loved this novel. It is definitely different from other historical fictions about WWII and the Holocaust in terms of character development. The story is truly seen through the eyes of a child who has no knowledge of the crimes being committed. Highly recommend this along with the other books in the series - Then and Now. Happy reading!