Then
by Morris Gleitzman
Then opens with Felix and Zelda running for their lives from a train taking them to a concentration camp. Both orphaned children, first seen in Once, know that if they fall into the hands of the Nazis again they will be killed.
Felix’s gift for storytelling and passionate love for the books of Richmal Compton helps to sustain the pair against the danger of occupied Poland and the fate of Felix’s fellow Jews. The children want to find new parents to protect them but when they find salvation at the home of a kindly Polish woman, they realise their future is still precarious.
Felix narrates the book - his ten-year-old voice recounting acts of great inhumanity but kindness too. This is a thought-provoking and heartbreaking story with inspiring protagonists who, despite the horrors they witness, manage to remain courageous and hopeful.
Publisher: Puffin
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Morris Gleitzman
Morris was born in 1953 in Sleaford in Lincolnshire. His family moved south to the London suburbs when he was two. Then, in 1969, when he was a teenager, they emigrated to Australia. It was a big change and the shock was so great Morris stopped reading books for nearly a year. Though when he started again he found he wanted to write as well.
Beginning his literary career as a promotions writer, Morris was soon writing comedy scripts for the top rated Norman Gunston Show. His first novel for children – The Other Facts of Life – was published in 1985, followed by the hugely successful Two Weeks with the Queen for which he won the Children’s Book Award. He is a bestselling author of more than 27 books for children. From the humour of Bumface and the Toad series to the poignancy of Boy Overboard and Girl Underground, Morris’ stories have a struck a chord with young readers in over twenty countries.
Morris says ‘I’m interested in exploring a heroism that’s about perseverance, not escaping or denial or bitterness or bigotry. It’s the heroism of staying optimistic and continuing to struggle. Heroism for me is striving to overcome problems in the knowledge they will never be overcome.’
Morris Gleitzman, photo: Tim Keefe
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Reading Age: 10+
Interest level: 11+
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