46 pages • 1 hour read
Morris GleitzmanA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“You know how when you and two friends jump off a train that’s going to a Nazi death camp and you nearly knock yourself unconscious but you manage not to and your glasses don’t even get broken but your friend Chaya isn’t so lucky and she gets killed so you bury her under some ferns and wildflowers, which takes a lot of strength, and you haven’t got much energy left for running and climbing?
That’s how it is now for me and Zelda.”
Then begins in medias res, picking up where the narrative of Once concluded. Felix and Zelda are only 10 and 6 years old, respectively, but they have already endured enough trauma for a lifetime and have been forced to make adult decisions in order to survive. However, Felix demonstrates a determination and strength of moral character that carries him through the tumultuous events of the novel.
“I say a silent prayer to Richmal Crompton. I ask her to protect our friends who are still on that terrible train. Please don’t let them end up in a pit too.”
Richmal Crompton is Felix’s favorite author of children’s literature. Felix’s “prayers” to Crompton are a motif that runs through the series, serving as a reminder of the fact that Felix is still a child with naïve, childish views, despite the premature maturity that is forced upon him. The desperate elevation of his favorite author to near-godlike status also demonstrates his need to cling to whatever shreds of his former life he can manage to preserve. In this context, his subsequent theft of the Richmal Crompton book is entirely justified.
“Nailed to the side of the cart, right next to my face, is a tattered paper notice with printing on it. At the top is one word in big letters.
JEWS.
I read the rest of the notice.
Reward, it says. For each Jew captured and handed over. Two hundred (200) zloty and one (1) bottle of vodka.
Suddenly I’m not hungry anymore. I’m thinking clearly again. This is why the man wants to take us to town. To get a Nazi reward.”
The flyer on the turnip farmer’s wagon demonstrates the perilous situation Felix and Zelda are in. Although the farmer, Mr. Krol, ultimately proves to be friendly, Felix’s instincts are not necessarily misguided.
By Morris Gleitzman
Action & Adventure
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Art
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Coping with Death
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Family
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Good & Evil
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International Holocaust Remembrance Day
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Juvenile Literature
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Memorial Day Reads
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Military Reads
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Popular Study Guides
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Revenge
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Safety & Danger
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Sexual Harassment & Violence
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World War II
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