Once

Morris Gleitzman (author)

Puffin Books, Australia: 2005: 150pp

ISBN: 0143301950

Genres: adventure, historical fiction, realistic fiction

Issues: abuse, discrimination, identity, hope

CBCA Honour Book, Book of the Year, Younger Readers, 2006.

One night at the orphanage, Felix finds a whole carrot in his soup. He is convinced that it is a sign from his parents and that he will soon be reunited with them. When the only people to arrive are some book-burning Nazis, Felix decides it is time he went looking for his parents himself. After all, times are hard for Jewish booksellers in Poland - they need all the help they can get.

The orphanage has protected Felix from events in the world outside its walls. As his experiences become darker and more sinister, even his optimistic mind is forced to accept the brutal reality around him. But Felix has a hopeful spirit and a tremendous gift for storytelling. With these it seems he may be able to escape the horror around him and perhaps help a few others along the way.

This is a powerfully written, well researched book. Gleitzman's grandfather lived in Krakow and although he left long before the Holocaust, he lost many relatives and friends. Felix is almost a young Gleitzman, trying to make sense of an incomprehensible period of history. Felix's naivety is only believable because his stories are almost too positive - as if the boy is trying to convince himself that the discrimination and cruelty are not real. Sometimes there is a crack, a hesitation, which shows that Felix, deep down, is becoming aware of what is really going on. Zelda, the girl Felix rescues, is apparently far more knowing and cynical, which balances his apparent ignorance. But Zelda needs Felix's innocence, his stories full of hope, because they allow her time to come to term with the bleak reality of her murdered parents.

This is very much a novel that wants to give history a human face, to turn the countless multitudes of the Holocaust into fathers, mothers, children and friends. The inclusion of Zelda, the daughter of Nazis who were killed by the Polish resistance is an interesting way of showing that all children were affected - whether they were Jews or Nazis.

Although readable by the recommended age group, this is definitely a book that is more suitable for older readers. Even Gleitzman's ability to introduce humour into almost any situation cannot reduce the distressing reality of people being murdered for their religion by those who have been their neighbours and countrymen. It would make an interesting parallel study to The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, another exploration of the Holocaust that is more appropriate for readers of 14yrs and older.