I read this book on the recommendation of a friend. I thought using the last word of a sentence taken from the text as a title was an interesting way to entice the reader in.
The image on the front cover prepare the reader as to the type of story they will experience, the Jewish experience during WWII but this time it is told from the point of view of a child.
We meet Felix in an orphanage where he has been placed by is parents in a desperate bid on their part to keep him safe from the fate they knew awaited them if they were capture by the Nazis. It is never made clear if they have been taken away to the death camps, it’s just hinted at.
In this tale we get a sence of how the innocence of childhood protected Felix from the true horrors for long time. His main concern, like most children was about the return of his parents to collect him. He builds mental strategies to help him cope with what is going on. Despite this situation he retains the ability to forge friendships in the orphanage and in the world outside.
Felix is forced to deal with the terrible circumstances he finds himself in, forging new relationships and surviving.
This book joins a group of books that looks at conflict from a child’s point of view. Two more books that tackle war in this way are Oranges in No Mans Land by Elizabeth Laird, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Althea Samuels, class teacher and independent consultant. 