Then
Morris Gleitzman
Summary Of The Book
Two Jewish children, Felix and Zelda can not be found from the Nazis since they already escaped from a concentration camp, but when a stranger comes up and aggressively brings them to a barn, what are they supposed to think? When the lady named Genia comes into the barn, she immediately tells the children to act like Nazis even though it will be hard. For that sake, they will have to change their identification, will they manage to keep the secret and not tell anyone about their true life story? Going into town can be risky, but they are able to act like Genia's niece and nephew. After continuously going into town the Nazis think something is suspicious with the two children and soon discovers the true story about the children. As Zelda and Genia go into town by themselves, with the Nazis, Felix is at home. As he reaches town with his friend that is also a Jew, Felix hears news he wishes he never heard.
Always protect the people you love!
The two children escaped from a concentration camp and wanted to get as far away from war as possible. Zelda was a six year old child that continuously complained about how tired she was and how sore her feet were from stepping on sharp grass and rocks. Felix would always tell Zelda stories so it would motivate her to keep her protected. She never understood why he did, but that was the only way to protect her from danger.
Reason 2
Zelda and Felix were not family, but promised to keep each other safe. When they went to town with Genia, the Nazis were going to hit Zelda in the head since she did not respect the soldiers, but Felix stepped out and protected Zelda. Felix instead got hit in the head with a gun and got knocked out. If he did not protect Zelda, she would have gotten hit in the head instead of him.
Reason 3
When the two children were in the barn hiding, Felix took her locket that her mother gave to her because he had a plan to protect her. If the Nazis would find them, Felix would claim that Zelda is a Nazi and he was a Jew so that she could stay with Genia instead of him.
Historical Facts
The author, Morris Gleitman incorporated WWII by telling specific details of how the towns looked back then. It said in the book that they saw people being hung and how people would walk by it and pretend to notice nothing, like it was normal. It talked about how the children were on top of a hill and they could see a large hole with dead bodies in the pit. From looking at that, you can see how harsh concentration camps were. When they were escaping the author said that Nazis would be on top of the train watching to see if kids escaped. The one thing that I learned from the book is Nazis used to check peoples private parts to see if they were a Jew.
Sources!
"Nazi Germany." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. <http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany>.
"Complete Marketing Systems Forest Trees." ImgStockscom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. <http://imgstocks.com/complete-marketing-systems-forest-trees.html>.
"Collecting Memories: Leilani of the Thriftaholic Blog Shares Her Collection of Vintage and Antique Lockets | TVB Blog." TVB Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. <http://www.thevintagebazaar.com/blog/2012/08/24/collecting-memories-vintage-lockets/>.
"Novel World Unfurled, YA Edition." : Review: Then (Once #2), by Morris Gleitzman. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. <http://novelworldunfurled.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-then-once-2-by-morris-gleitzman.html>.