Gleitzman, Morris. Then

Gleitzman, Morris.  Then   

Henry Holt/macmillan children's pub group 2011  196p  16.99 978-0-8050-9027-7 ms/jr VG-BN Realistic Fiction      

     When Zelda and Felix escape from a Nazi train, they find an ally in Genia, a Polish woman who takes them in and protects them. All face danger from a variety of enemies.   Many books have been written about the Holocaust.  This novel tells a different kind of story, however. In Then, author Morris Gleitzman brings together the 6 year-old daughter of Nazis who were killed in a Polish uprising and Felix, a Jewish boy of 10 who befriends her and treats her like a sister.  Both have an unusual journey, to stay alive in Nazi-controlled Poland in the harshest of times, when there is little food, little support and lots of fear.  When the children find Genia, she hides them, procures new identities for them and encourages them to stay with her.  Zelda has her own demons; she despises Nazis.  Felix must try to make her see that she is not Jewish, or she will end up in a camp and perish.  Felix’s demons are much easier to understand; he has watched his entire family die.  The author’s style is made for children, yet he has written a book that will find an audience with people of any age.  Parts contain raw emotion and actions that are compelling to read.  Besides having strength in expressing plot and in character development, Gleitzman  creatively begins each chapter with “Then,“ which encourages readers to turn the pages, not that the reader will need a prompt to want to read this book.                    Holocaust children run from death camps     Martha Squaresky