Review: Then (Once #2), by Morris Gleitzman

Then (Once #2)
By Morris Gleitzman
Publication Date: March 1st, 2008 (Puffin Books)
Hardcover, 198 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction; Holocaust; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION (WHICH CONTAINS SPOILERS TO THE FIRST BOOK IN THE SERIES, ONCE; SO, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ONCE, DON'T READ THIS  BOOK DESCRIPTION):

Felix and Zelda have escaped the train to the death camp, but where to they go now? They're two runaway kids in Nazi-occupied Poland. Danger lies at every turn of the road.

With the help of a woman named Genia and their active imaginations, Felix and Zelda find a new home and begin to heal, forming a new family together. But can it last?

Morris Gleitzman's winning characters will tug at readers' hearts as they struggle to survive in the harsh political climate of Poland in 1942. Their lives are difficult, but they always remember what matters: family, love, and hope.

—from goodreads.com

REVIEW:

The Once Trilogy—and especially this book, Then—is a gazillion times more heartbreaking than The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. 

Then, is told by Felix, a ten-year-old Jewish boy, who is reminiscent of—but not as clueless as—Bruno from The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (however, I guess Felix being less clueless of the Holocaust than Bruno makes sense, since Felix is a Jewish boy living through the horror, and Bruno is a Nazi officer's son, sheltered from most of the violence). The plot follows Felix as he struggles to take care of and protect his friend/adopted sister, Zelda.

As much as I love Felix, he is a bit naive and that's something I don't really tolerate in main characters, especially in Holocaust fiction. When the main character comes across a pit of dead children, all twisted and tangled up together, his first though shouldn't be "They're all sleeping together," even if he first thinks this when he is not up close to the child-body pit. 

Zelda was a lot more ignorant, but since she was only six-years-old, her ignorance gets a sort of pass. Zelda was strong-willed and ill-tempered most of the time. Her trademark saying is "Don't you know anything?" and this is usually what she snaps at Felix. Because of her quarrelsome nature, the tender moments she had with Felix made her lovable in her own way.

I may have loved Felix and Zelda, but Amon was my favorite favorite favorite character, even though he wasn't highlighted in Then very often. The parts that he was in introduced me to a very caring and sympathetic person, and I hope to see him in the next book in the Once Series, Now.

Then, by Morris Gleitzman was tragic and beautiful, and I can't wait to read the next book, Now.

RATING:

Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
By John Boyne
Publication Date: January 1st, 2006 (David Fickling Books)
Hardcover, 218 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction; Holocaust; YA
Source: Library

DESCRIPTION:

Berlin, 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall sense running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy named Shmuel whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

-from goodreads.com

REVIEW:

First Thoughts: I'm heartbroken, but that wasn't completely depressing.

Second Thoughts: If Bruno is suppose to be nine-years-old, why does he act like he's five? :(

Bruno is not simply "naive" or "ignorant"—he's stupid and self-centered, and it rubbed me the wrong way. I don't think nine-year-olds could be this ignorant. Shmuel, the Jewish boy, is also pretty ignorant, and if there is one nine-year-old who acts like a six-year-old who should know what's going on, it's Shmuel. Still, I pitied him more than being annoyed, because of...well, you know. :(

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is written in a sort of fairy tale style way, which contrasts with the horrible facts of what happened during the Halocaust. And even though the story takes place during WWII, violence is never described. Because it is from Bruno's "naive" perspective, nothing is ever bluntly said about the violence, but it's mildly suggested: bruises, cuts, soldiers pushing Jewish children around and laughing, some of which the reader has to draw their own conclusion on.

Final Thoughts: What a beautiful and heartbreaking story about the bonds of friendship and the boarders it crosses.

RATING: