Eliza's Book Review

‘Once’ by Morris Gleitzman

Once is the first book in a series set in the 1940’s during World War 2 in Poland.  A Jewish boy called Felix is fighting for his country for freedom.

Felix had lived some of his life in an orphanage, his parents had given him up to keep him safe from the war. One day he decided to run away and find his mum and dad. He ran into deserted town and down into the streets. Then walked along to his mum and dad's bookshop. He looked inside then he was attacked. He lay on the ground, then a man found him and took him away.

He woke up to find himself laid on a bed with a man and a girl looking over him. He was in a safe place for kids. The man was called Barney and the little girl was called Zelda. A few months later Nazis came through the house attacked the people and them on a Nazi train, but Felix and Zelda escape up on to the hill. They manage to get up into the forest before any Nazis see them. They hide behind a bush.

I liked this book because it was about Poland during World War 2 when Jewish people were being persecuted for their faith. It explained how in that time what Polish Jewish people had to go through, and how they survived. I also like this book because he makes it so that you feel like you're there. The way he describes…. He makes it so that you feel like you're there and is tells you what each characters like and dislikes are. I like Morris Gleitzman's writing because it's very real and descriptive about what he's trying to explain.

‘Once’ was a book by Morris Gleitzman, an English born Australian author of young Children's and young adults fiction. He was born in England in 1953 and moved to Australia in 1969. So he could escape from school and become a famous writer.

Morris Gleitzman has gained recognition for sparking an interest in AIDS in his controversial novel ‘2 weeks with the Queen’. He wrote his first novel in 1985 and is one of the Australia's most successful authors. He has also wrote other books in this series such as, Then, Now, After, Soon left in the series.

By Eliza :)