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Books | Young Adult Fiction / Historical / Holocaust

4.3

(223)

Morris Gleitzman

Felix, a Jewish boy in Poland in 1942, is hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage. The only problem is that he doesn't know anything about the war, and thinks he's only in the orphanage while his parents travel and try to salvage their bookselling business. And when he thinks his parents are in danger, Felix sets off to warn them--straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland. To Felix, everything is a story: Why did he get a whole carrot in his soup? It must be sign that his parents are coming to get him. Why are the Nazis burning books? They must be foreign librarians sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library. But as Felix's journey gets increasingly dangerous, he begins to see horrors that not even stories can explain.Despite his grim suroundings, Felix never loses hope. Morris Gleitzman takes a painful subject and expertly turns it into a story filled with love, friendship, and even humor.

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More Details:

Author

Morris Gleitzman

Pages

176

Publisher

Henry Holt and Company (BYR)

Published Date

2010-03-30

ISBN

1429922346 9781429922340

Ratings

Google: 4.5

Community ReviewsSee all

"Inspired by the author reading about a Polish Jewish children’s writer & physician named Janusz Korczak who ran an orphanage for 200 Jewish children. When the Nazis murdered the orphans in 1942 he was offered his freedom but chose to die with them. MC in this book is a little boy who makes up creative hopeful stories that puts you in the mind of movie Life is Beautiful to help the other children and himself face the continuing horrors of the Nazis. Story continues in 5 other books. "

M C

Melissa Craver

"This book is so good I had to buy the whole collection! Also it has a lot of emotion."

Maci

"I have read a number of YA books concerning the holocaust, but this is the first to make me laugh and cry simultaneously. Gleitzman really captured what a 10-year-old sheltered boy must have felt when first encountering Nazis and the horrors in Poland in 1942."

Ricki Marking-Camuto

"Good story but poor execution. Aside from spelling and grammar errors and minor inconsistencies, such as Alec being called Alex a few times, I was a little bothered by how rushed the story felt. It was as though the author was thinking faster than she could write which resulted in a lack of deeper character development. 3 stars because the story was good enough to make me want to read the rest of the series."