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Once

by Morris Gleitzman

In 1942 Poland, a young Jewish boy named Felix leaves a Catholic orphanage to search for his parents. As he travels through Nazi-occupied territory, his optimistic storytelling clashes with the harsh realities of the Holocaust.

Accession 9780312653040 ISBN 9780312653040 Publisher Square Fish

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position_updated_at: 2026-05-05 17:12
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binding_type: Hard Back
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spine_text: morris gleitzman Once

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Topics and Themes

1. The Holocaust & Nazi-Occupied Europe
Felix is a Jewish boy hiding in a Catholic orphanage in Poland in 1942, navigating the realities of Nazi persecution largely without understanding them. The novel confronts the genocide of Jewish children directly and without the comfort of a tidy resolution — a rarity in Holocaust fiction for young readers.

Connect to books about: World War II history, the Holocaust, Jewish identity under persecution, Nazi Germany, genocide studies.

2. Childhood Innocence & the Confrontation with Atrocity
Felix knows nothing of the war around him and interprets the horrors he encounters through a lens of wishful naivety. As his journey deepens, he is forced to reconcile his innocent worldview with an incomprehensible reality. The book explores what it costs a child to lose that innocence.

Connect to books about: loss of innocence, coming-of-age in wartime, childhood and trauma, moral awakening.

3. The Power of Storytelling & Imagination
Felix frames everything as a story, using narrative to make sense of — and survive — a world that defies understanding. The novel positions imaginative storytelling as both a coping mechanism and a form of resistance, and as the foundation of empathy and human kindness.

Connect to books about: narrative theory, storytelling as survival, the role of literature in crisis, imagination and resilience.

4. Hope as Survival
Throughout the novel, hope is not presented as naivety but as a necessary force for endurance. Even after Felix understands the truth of what surrounds him, hope gives him the courage to keep going and to protect others.

Connect to books about: psychological resilience, survival narratives, optimism under oppression, human endurance.

5. Friendship, Loyalty & Moral Courage
Friendship is central to the novel's emotional core. Felix repeatedly puts himself at risk to protect others — most notably Zelda — demonstrating that care for others is what defines a good person, even in a world defined by cruelty.

Connect to books about: friendship and solidarity, moral courage, altruism, protecting the vulnerable.

6. Persecution, Racism & Genocide
The Nazi persecution of Jewish people is not treated abstractly — the novel confronts racism and genocidal violence as lived, embodied experiences, including the deaths of children. It explores how hatred is institutionalised and enacted against those deemed "other."

Connect to books about: racism and discrimination, ethnic cleansing, antisemitism, human rights, political violence.

7. Displacement, Orphanhood & the Search for Family
Felix is separated from his parents and living in an orphanage, driven by the belief that his family is still reachable. His journey is fundamentally one of a displaced child searching for belonging and parental love in a world that has torn families apart.

Connect to books about: refugees and displacement, orphans in literature, family separation, belonging and home.

8. Children in Wartime & Young Adult Historical Fiction
The novel sits within a tradition of historical fiction that uses a child's perspective to render large-scale historical trauma accessible and emotionally real to younger readers. It raises questions about how history is taught, remembered, and told to the next generation.

Connect to books about: YA historical fiction, war narratives from a child's perspective, memory and testimony, literature as witness.

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