Monday, December 16, 2013

Once by Morris Gleitzman

Once by Morris Gleitzman
Audio Book Review
Narrated by Morris Gleitzman
3 hours and 8 minutes

Felix is a young orphan living in a Polish hilltop orphanage.  His Jewish parents dropped him off for safe keeping and said they'd return for him. and when Nazi soldiers show up at the orphanage and burn the nuns books, Felix panics and decide to find his parents and warn them to save the books.  The search for Felix's parents leads him on a perilous journey to the Warsaw ghetto.

Narrated by the author, each chapter break has a musical interlude.  The story starts out a little slow as Felix is very naive and innocent.  His parents owned a bookstore so Felix's mind is filled with stories that he uses to explain things he doesn't understand.  Once picks up as Felix starts to figure out what is really happening around him during the war with Germany.  Felix in his naiveté reminds me of the Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
There are 3 more books in the series.