Then - Morris Gleitzman

Then
Morris Gleitzman
Penguin

Once and its sequel, Then are harrowing and beautifully told stories of ten year old Felix; a Jewish boy caught in the midst of the Holocaust. Similar to The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas and equally as good, Once and Then are told through the eyes of Felix, illustrating with child like purity the senselessness of war.

Once opens with Felix in a catholic orphanage where his parents had placed him in 1939. Two years later he escapes the orphanage to find the world outside changed dramatically. He suddenly found himself alone and on the run. He met Zelda, whose parents - Nazi sympathisers - were murdered by the polish resistance and the two become unlikely companions.

In Then, we are reunited with Felix and Zelda when they jump off a train destined for a death camp and find themselves in a village occupied by the Nazis. In the climax of the book, Felix's own values are challenged. He has to choose as to whether he allows his pain to turn into hatred towards the Nazi aggressors or stay true to himself.

I read these books when my son brought them home as part of his English text. I am glad there are books illustrating the horrors of the past wrtten for young readers, so the future generation may hopefully not repeat them in the future.