Morris Gleitzman

Representation: N/A?
Trigger warnings: Death of parents, gun violence, blood depiction, antisemitism, World War Two, near-death experiences, fire
Note that I got this book and now I own it. This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.

7/10, so this is the first book of a seven-book series and initially I had no idea of what this book was going to be but other people have enjoyed this and seeing this classified as a war book I knew it was going to hit hard like a truck, and overall I did like the execution and how the author could do so much in not a lot of pages which is impressive. Where do I begin? It starts with the main character Felix and he lives in a Catholic orphanage with other orphans like him and some other orphaned characters however for some reason he believes that his parents are still out there somewhere and they will come back but other children come to that orphanage since their parents died somehow so that was an interesting plot point I guess. And he's Jewish and given the circumstances like the year 1942 it's just a horrible time to live in and it's even worse for him only due to his religion which was disheartening but all too real but at least I liked how every chapter started with the word Once hence the title. That's an intriguing stylistic choice I suppose. Only a few pages later he starts on his journey by first escaping from the orphanage most likely to find his parents, did I mention that I liked Felix as a character since at the start he tells many stories to hide the truth however as I move on this isn't the case. Partway through that he meets another character named Zelda who must've been a victim of an attack that happened recently in her neighbourhood since her house was burned down for some reason and soon enough they get along even though their character dynamic is not perfect I'm sure that choice made the book more realistic in a way. The ending is only ok since there was one action scene but the book was a difficult read and the final pages were just weaker than the rest. Wow. I will surely read the next six books in the series and they might be as good as the first.… (mais)

I enjoyed this entire series. This is a fitting end to it. We find Felix's past and present reconnecting through a young boy named Wassim. Felix, in helping Wassim, realizes that even though he has always held out hope for mankind to be better than they were when he was a child, witnessing the atrocities of the Holocaust, there is still so much hatred and prejudice in the world. But maybe he can help change Wassim's life a bit. This is a series I have not only recommended to my students, daughter and granddaughter, but one I will read from beginning to end this coming school year. Why? Since I have all of them I want to read straight through. This is one roller coaster of a ride series. I definitely recommend it to everyone.… (mais)

The war is over, but you wouldn’t know it from the situation in Poland. 13-year-old Jewish Felix is still with Gabriek, the Polish man who hid Felix in his barn for two years. They live in a partially destroyed building and use Gabriek’s carpentry and mechanical skills and Felix’s medical skills to trade for food and other items. Felix’s life is in danger after he crosses a Polish nationalist. Felix and Gabriek might just survive with the help of Anya, a girl about Felix’s age.

In some ways this is the most difficult book yet in this series, even though Felix has survived the Holocaust. Although the war has ended, the violence driven by ethnic hatred continues in Poland. Felix rescues a Ukrainian baby from certain death at the hands of Polish nationalists, only to see the baby drown days later as Felix and Anya are driven into the river by a murderous mob. Will Felix ever find a home where he won’t have to live in fear for his life?… (mais)