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Once #4
After
In the fourth part of Felix's story, continuing his adventures in World War Two, he faces perhaps his greatest challenge - to find hope when he's lost almost everything, including his parents. As Europe goes through the final agonizing stages of the war, Felix struggles to reconcile hatred and healing. He's helped by a new friend, but if he should lose her as well ...
209 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
207 people are currently reading
4521 people want to read
About the author
Morris Gleitzman
120 books974 followersMorris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.
Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.
Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.
He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.
But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.
All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.
Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.
Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.
He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.
But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.
All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 399 reviews
July 19, 2022
This part is about the last months of the war and Felix has to fend for himself. As the others: beautifully written.
September 30, 2018
I really like the style, the story written from the perspective of a child with a different way of looking at things. Plenty of excitement and unexpected. ONCE upon a time there was a 10 year old Jewish boy called Felix whose parents were taken away by the Nazis. THEN, his close friend and ally, Zelda, was taken away from him also. NOW, Felix is 80, living in Australia, and trying to protect another Zelda, his grandaughter who is also our narrator.
If you enjoyed the Boy in stripped pyjamas or the Edelweiss Pirate series, you will enjoy this great series by Morris Gleitzman.
They are short, easy to read and also perfect for 10 year olds and up. They are not only exciting novels, but very educational.
If you enjoyed the Boy in stripped pyjamas or the Edelweiss Pirate series, you will enjoy this great series by Morris Gleitzman.
They are short, easy to read and also perfect for 10 year olds and up. They are not only exciting novels, but very educational.
June 29, 2013
After the Nazis took my parents I was scared
After they killed my best friend I was angry
After they ruined my thirteenth birthday I was determined
To get to the forest
To join forces with Gabriek and Yuli
To be a family
To defeat the Nazis after all.
After I finished reading Once, the first story about Felix, 10, a young Jewish boy on the run from the Nazis, I wanted to know more about this brave boy and Zelda, the six year old who became his friend. And so, Morris Gleitzman gave us Then, which did indeed continue the story of Felix and Zelda. When I finished reading that second book, I still wanted to know more and so along came book three, called Now. But this is the story of 80 year old Felix and his granddaughter Zelda, 10. But wait, Now ended in the middle of the war. What happened to Felix in the last two years of the war? Where and how did Felix spend them? Well, we know that he spent time helping partisans with his friend Gabriek. But, how the heck did that come about?
Well, now there is After. After returns to the war, where it is 1945 and Felix has been hiding for two years in a hidey hole in Gabriek's barn, emerging once a night to eat and excercise. The hidey hole is right under the hooves of Gabriek's horse Dom. On the night of his 13th birthday, Felix hears Gabriek talking to some men with guns. Nazis? But they are speaking Polish and are not wearing uniforms and there is a lady wearing a red scarf with them. Confused and scared, Felix decides to follow them when they head off to the forest with Gabriek. Afraid they are going to kill Gabriek, Felix tries to rescue him by yelling at his captors. With their guns pointed and ready to shoot, Felix gives himself up to save Gabriek - only they aren't Nazis, they're partisans and Gabriek is one of them and they have just sabotaged a Nazi train.
When it is all over, Felix is allowed to go home with Gabriek, but when they get there, the farm is on fire, set by the Nazis. They manage to save the horse and find their way to the partisan camp, asking to permanently join. But Felix is an outsider and must prove himself - by stealing a gun from a Nazi. The lady in the red scarf, Yuli, takes him to a village and tells him what to do.
Felix ends up joining the partisans, but as the doctor's assistant not as a fighter. He befriends the maternal Yuli, even fantasizes that Gabriek and Yuli could be his new parents. But the war is still going on, and the more the Nazis are defeated, the more hateful and destructive they become. Life is still precarious - for Felix and for the partisans.
There is much more in store for Felix and Gabriek before the end of the war, but it would probably require a **Spoiler Alert** and I think it needs to be experienced first hand. Suffice it to say, that After did, indeed, give me the sense of closure that I really needed on Felix's story.
Gleitzman, we know, is a master storyteller and the four books that comprise Felix's history are no exception. Caught in one of the darkest periods, witness to all kinds of horrors, he gives us a Felix who has managed to maintain his sense of humanity, fairness and imagination throughout and it is all incredibly believable. And in After, we see the man that Felix will become - a doctor who wants to heal the wounds of the world - small wonder.
After is a true coming of age book. Had things been different, Felix would have had a bar mitzvah at 13 instead of joining a partisan group. But even so, there is a very discernible change in Felix in this book. He is not a young boy anymore, praying to Richmal Crompton, but has a sense of maturity about him that becomes all the more obvious and poignant when he is put into a paternal position of taking care of three Jewish sisters hiding from the Nazis.
I am sorry to say good-bye to Felix now, but am comforted by the fact that I can reread his story anytime I want to. His story is sad, funny, violent and painful, but so well worth reading.
Patience has never been my strong suit, so as soon as I knew it was available in Australia, NZ, and the UK, I also knew I had to order After from The Book Depository (free shipping, Americans!) because I don't know when the American edition is going to come out. Sound good? Why wait? You can read the first chapter right here at The Morris Gleitzman Collection.
And thank you, Mr. Gleitzman, for doing such a bang up job telling us Felix's story.
This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was purchased for my personal library.
This review was first published at The Children's War
After they killed my best friend I was angry
After they ruined my thirteenth birthday I was determined
To get to the forest
To join forces with Gabriek and Yuli
To be a family
To defeat the Nazis after all.
After I finished reading Once, the first story about Felix, 10, a young Jewish boy on the run from the Nazis, I wanted to know more about this brave boy and Zelda, the six year old who became his friend. And so, Morris Gleitzman gave us Then, which did indeed continue the story of Felix and Zelda. When I finished reading that second book, I still wanted to know more and so along came book three, called Now. But this is the story of 80 year old Felix and his granddaughter Zelda, 10. But wait, Now ended in the middle of the war. What happened to Felix in the last two years of the war? Where and how did Felix spend them? Well, we know that he spent time helping partisans with his friend Gabriek. But, how the heck did that come about?
Well, now there is After. After returns to the war, where it is 1945 and Felix has been hiding for two years in a hidey hole in Gabriek's barn, emerging once a night to eat and excercise. The hidey hole is right under the hooves of Gabriek's horse Dom. On the night of his 13th birthday, Felix hears Gabriek talking to some men with guns. Nazis? But they are speaking Polish and are not wearing uniforms and there is a lady wearing a red scarf with them. Confused and scared, Felix decides to follow them when they head off to the forest with Gabriek. Afraid they are going to kill Gabriek, Felix tries to rescue him by yelling at his captors. With their guns pointed and ready to shoot, Felix gives himself up to save Gabriek - only they aren't Nazis, they're partisans and Gabriek is one of them and they have just sabotaged a Nazi train.
When it is all over, Felix is allowed to go home with Gabriek, but when they get there, the farm is on fire, set by the Nazis. They manage to save the horse and find their way to the partisan camp, asking to permanently join. But Felix is an outsider and must prove himself - by stealing a gun from a Nazi. The lady in the red scarf, Yuli, takes him to a village and tells him what to do.
Felix ends up joining the partisans, but as the doctor's assistant not as a fighter. He befriends the maternal Yuli, even fantasizes that Gabriek and Yuli could be his new parents. But the war is still going on, and the more the Nazis are defeated, the more hateful and destructive they become. Life is still precarious - for Felix and for the partisans.
There is much more in store for Felix and Gabriek before the end of the war, but it would probably require a **Spoiler Alert** and I think it needs to be experienced first hand. Suffice it to say, that After did, indeed, give me the sense of closure that I really needed on Felix's story.
Gleitzman, we know, is a master storyteller and the four books that comprise Felix's history are no exception. Caught in one of the darkest periods, witness to all kinds of horrors, he gives us a Felix who has managed to maintain his sense of humanity, fairness and imagination throughout and it is all incredibly believable. And in After, we see the man that Felix will become - a doctor who wants to heal the wounds of the world - small wonder.
After is a true coming of age book. Had things been different, Felix would have had a bar mitzvah at 13 instead of joining a partisan group. But even so, there is a very discernible change in Felix in this book. He is not a young boy anymore, praying to Richmal Crompton, but has a sense of maturity about him that becomes all the more obvious and poignant when he is put into a paternal position of taking care of three Jewish sisters hiding from the Nazis.
I am sorry to say good-bye to Felix now, but am comforted by the fact that I can reread his story anytime I want to. His story is sad, funny, violent and painful, but so well worth reading.
Patience has never been my strong suit, so as soon as I knew it was available in Australia, NZ, and the UK, I also knew I had to order After from The Book Depository (free shipping, Americans!) because I don't know when the American edition is going to come out. Sound good? Why wait? You can read the first chapter right here at The Morris Gleitzman Collection.
And thank you, Mr. Gleitzman, for doing such a bang up job telling us Felix's story.
This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was purchased for my personal library.
This review was first published at The Children's War
January 23, 2016
From the very beginning of the Once series, Morris Gleitzman set out on the extremely difficult task in writing a children's book about the Holocaust. I think back when I first heard about it, I was both skeptical and worried, because it is an incredibly delicate topic and how could one portray it in both an honest and suitable way for kids to read?
As we already know, Gleitzman pulled it off flawlessly, winning countless literary awards and spawning three sequels. This is the final book in the Once series, written after Now, even though it jumps back in time to 1945, while Now was set in the present day.
I'm extremely glad for this final book, because personally, I was dissappointed by Now. Although it was well-written, it fell so much shorter than the standard of the story told in Once and Then. And honestly, leaving Felix lying in a pit at the end of Then was probably not the best way to end that time frame. While Now somewhat provided relief in showing that Felix survived WW2, I didn't feel it reached the heart of the matter as well as the previous novels. So I was extremely delighted to know Gleitzman also felt Felix's story wasn't completely finished yet.
After is set in 1945, during the last weeks of the war. I felt a bit of trepidation as I started, fear that it would not measure up to the other books (you know how it is with sequels!), but it didn't take long before I fell comfortably back into the world of Felix. What can I say really, After is another little masterpiece. Felix grew a lot in this book, and it was good to see that. At times, it is a very painful read, because Gleitzman is amazing at writing out the toughest scenes with the simplest words, and the child-like view the Holocaust is seen through once again stands out.
Gleitzman also doesn't shy away from the grey areas of war, he doesn't sugar-coat anything. People die left and right, the brutality of both the Nazis and the partisans and the Russian army is shown, he doesn't portray any group as 'the good guys', and he makes sure Felix sees it too. Felix himself begins to see things in a vengeful way, he also thinks violently, he also wants to kill Nazis, and while all these themes may be dangerous to present to children, Gleitzman has tackled it honestly and realistically. I really liked the idea of parenting and protection in this book, it really stood out, and Felix's decision to become independent and then his realization of why parents are needed, why mending and healing is needed, is beautifully portrayed.
I don't feel the need to comment much on Gleitzman's writing style here. It's at its usual great standard- lots of short, to-the-point sentences. Felix's voice is as clear and honest as ever, and the hurting and growing his character does throughout this book is amazing to read.
I'm almost a little torn to admit this is probably my favourite book in the series, maybe even better than Then. But I might have to reread it all to make up my mind. I can't seem to describe the plot exactly or what makes it so great, I just know that is is a welcome finale in the Once series, tying up the loose ends, mending and healing the broken, and looking hopefully toward the future.
All in all, this is the conclusion to Felix's story that he deserved and that we were all waiting for. Thank you so much for finishing his story, Morris Gleitzman.
As we already know, Gleitzman pulled it off flawlessly, winning countless literary awards and spawning three sequels. This is the final book in the Once series, written after Now, even though it jumps back in time to 1945, while Now was set in the present day.
I'm extremely glad for this final book, because personally, I was dissappointed by Now. Although it was well-written, it fell so much shorter than the standard of the story told in Once and Then. And honestly, leaving Felix lying in a pit at the end of Then was probably not the best way to end that time frame. While Now somewhat provided relief in showing that Felix survived WW2, I didn't feel it reached the heart of the matter as well as the previous novels. So I was extremely delighted to know Gleitzman also felt Felix's story wasn't completely finished yet.
After is set in 1945, during the last weeks of the war. I felt a bit of trepidation as I started, fear that it would not measure up to the other books (you know how it is with sequels!), but it didn't take long before I fell comfortably back into the world of Felix. What can I say really, After is another little masterpiece. Felix grew a lot in this book, and it was good to see that. At times, it is a very painful read, because Gleitzman is amazing at writing out the toughest scenes with the simplest words, and the child-like view the Holocaust is seen through once again stands out.
Gleitzman also doesn't shy away from the grey areas of war, he doesn't sugar-coat anything. People die left and right, the brutality of both the Nazis and the partisans and the Russian army is shown, he doesn't portray any group as 'the good guys', and he makes sure Felix sees it too. Felix himself begins to see things in a vengeful way, he also thinks violently, he also wants to kill Nazis, and while all these themes may be dangerous to present to children, Gleitzman has tackled it honestly and realistically. I really liked the idea of parenting and protection in this book, it really stood out, and Felix's decision to become independent and then his realization of why parents are needed, why mending and healing is needed, is beautifully portrayed.
I don't feel the need to comment much on Gleitzman's writing style here. It's at its usual great standard- lots of short, to-the-point sentences. Felix's voice is as clear and honest as ever, and the hurting and growing his character does throughout this book is amazing to read.
I'm almost a little torn to admit this is probably my favourite book in the series, maybe even better than Then. But I might have to reread it all to make up my mind. I can't seem to describe the plot exactly or what makes it so great, I just know that is is a welcome finale in the Once series, tying up the loose ends, mending and healing the broken, and looking hopefully toward the future.
All in all, this is the conclusion to Felix's story that he deserved and that we were all waiting for. Thank you so much for finishing his story, Morris Gleitzman.
April 3, 2020
"It's wonderful when a war ends, but then you remember that things will never be the same. Everyone you've lost will still be dead. Parents and relatives, and pets and best friends. And some people, even if they're not dead, you'll never see again.....Dreams are like stories. We have them for the same reason we have stories. To help us know things and feel better about them."
I'm not crying.....
Okay.... maybe a little and few tears....
OH ALRIGHT ALREADY.... Near the end of this book and for a good literal 9-10 pages....
Like, a TOTAL MESS and even though it was the kind of book that was actually quick/fast read pages so getting through 10 pages isn't that difficult, I was seriously a mess and was ugly crying, bawling, sobbing, couldn't breathe crying with what happened. Oh my heart was breaking so much for Felix but rejoicing for him and then broke again and ugh! THIS is how you write from what I gathered an unplanned rest of Felix's story. Morris Gleitzman had captured the last year of the war in Poland in 1945 and with Partisans (who I take it were also part of some rebellion of sorts) and to get to live in their lives alongside Felix and without giving too much away, I'm so glad Gleitzman followed his gut feeling in finishing more AFTER the third book Now where Felix is an old man living in Australia and his granddaughter is staying with him and is told from her POV and yet I absolutely loved the two previous books he did to introduce a very special fictional character and Jewish boy living in WWII Poland.
If you haven't read these or don't have these on your TBR, add them and start them when you can because Morris Gleitzman paints an amazing and heart wrenching scene of the Holocaust but it's through the eyes at first of a six year old innocent, naive little boy who was taken to an Orphanage by his parents because of his safety in the first book Once and Then his story continues right where book one ends and by book 4 when Morris Gleitzman returns to Felix at the age of 13 (so seven year later after the first book) and now I'm even more excited to pick up the next two books. Only because in the third book, his granddaughter had said something about how the man who had helped hide and take Felix in during the last couple years of the war had helped practically and may as well have adopted him but also raised him until his death; and learning that in the third book, I knew deep down I wanted an extra two or three books or so to fill in that blank and sure enough as Gleitzman said in his note, he felt like Felix wasn't done with his story and I'm glad he decided to finish Felix's story because it's hard to put into words for me of how much I've come to love this little boy and how indescribable he is.
Felix Salinger is a character I wish everyone who read knew and to see these events through his eyes, to see and hear of what he describes it as, how he gets through the war, how he just tells it as it is by trying to learn so many different things and go along with it, I can tell you and promise you this series so far is seriously one of the best WWII historical fiction books I've ever read in my lifetime and totally worth it.
I'm not crying.....
Okay.... maybe a little and few tears....
OH ALRIGHT ALREADY.... Near the end of this book and for a good literal 9-10 pages....
Like, a TOTAL MESS and even though it was the kind of book that was actually quick/fast read pages so getting through 10 pages isn't that difficult, I was seriously a mess and was ugly crying, bawling, sobbing, couldn't breathe crying with what happened. Oh my heart was breaking so much for Felix but rejoicing for him and then broke again and ugh! THIS is how you write from what I gathered an unplanned rest of Felix's story. Morris Gleitzman had captured the last year of the war in Poland in 1945 and with Partisans (who I take it were also part of some rebellion of sorts) and to get to live in their lives alongside Felix and without giving too much away, I'm so glad Gleitzman followed his gut feeling in finishing more AFTER the third book Now where Felix is an old man living in Australia and his granddaughter is staying with him and is told from her POV and yet I absolutely loved the two previous books he did to introduce a very special fictional character and Jewish boy living in WWII Poland.
If you haven't read these or don't have these on your TBR, add them and start them when you can because Morris Gleitzman paints an amazing and heart wrenching scene of the Holocaust but it's through the eyes at first of a six year old innocent, naive little boy who was taken to an Orphanage by his parents because of his safety in the first book Once and Then his story continues right where book one ends and by book 4 when Morris Gleitzman returns to Felix at the age of 13 (so seven year later after the first book) and now I'm even more excited to pick up the next two books. Only because in the third book, his granddaughter had said something about how the man who had helped hide and take Felix in during the last couple years of the war had helped practically and may as well have adopted him but also raised him until his death; and learning that in the third book, I knew deep down I wanted an extra two or three books or so to fill in that blank and sure enough as Gleitzman said in his note, he felt like Felix wasn't done with his story and I'm glad he decided to finish Felix's story because it's hard to put into words for me of how much I've come to love this little boy and how indescribable he is.
Felix Salinger is a character I wish everyone who read knew and to see these events through his eyes, to see and hear of what he describes it as, how he gets through the war, how he just tells it as it is by trying to learn so many different things and go along with it, I can tell you and promise you this series so far is seriously one of the best WWII historical fiction books I've ever read in my lifetime and totally worth it.
November 7, 2021
This is a good series, book 3 seemed to have jumped to modern times but now on book 4 we are back in WW2. A great series if you like books about ww2, the Holocaust but Young Adult.
The POV is great, the author is a clever writer and keep you reading.
The POV is great, the author is a clever writer and keep you reading.
April 1, 2017
After the Nazis took my parents I was scared
After they killed my best friend I was angry
After they ruined my thirteenth birthday I was determined
To get to the forest
To join forces with Gabriek and Yuli
To be a family
To defeat the Nazis after all.
Jesus. I feel like I've been properly through the emotional wringer with these books.
So at the end of Now, we knew that Felix had survived the war and had emigrated to Australia with Gabriek. We know that Felix survives, so it made me wonder how he would continue to maintain interest and tension in the final two books.
He does it by serving up lashings of Nazi brutality and terror, that's how. Gleitzman writes with a sledgehammer, which is not a style I generally enjoy but because of his subject matter I think it's actually quite appropriate. He never once pulls his punches, which is a brave thing to do, considering this is a MG/lower YA book. But then, when you're writing about the holocaust you really can't beat around the bush of gloss things over.
And that ending. Bloody hell.
The thing that prevents this book from being a complete misery-fest is Felix's delightful narration and inspiring optimism. It's like, holy shit, the kid has has had literally the worst childhood it's possible for someone to have, but he never throws his hands in the air and gives up (which he'd be perfectly entitled to do).
Like the other books, I listened to this on a Bolinda audiobook and it was narrated by the author. This really added to the whole experience.
4 stars
After they killed my best friend I was angry
After they ruined my thirteenth birthday I was determined
To get to the forest
To join forces with Gabriek and Yuli
To be a family
To defeat the Nazis after all.
Jesus. I feel like I've been properly through the emotional wringer with these books.
So at the end of Now, we knew that Felix had survived the war and had emigrated to Australia with Gabriek. We know that Felix survives, so it made me wonder how he would continue to maintain interest and tension in the final two books.
He does it by serving up lashings of Nazi brutality and terror, that's how. Gleitzman writes with a sledgehammer, which is not a style I generally enjoy but because of his subject matter I think it's actually quite appropriate. He never once pulls his punches, which is a brave thing to do, considering this is a MG/lower YA book. But then, when you're writing about the holocaust you really can't beat around the bush of gloss things over.
And that ending. Bloody hell.
The thing that prevents this book from being a complete misery-fest is Felix's delightful narration and inspiring optimism. It's like, holy shit, the kid has has had literally the worst childhood it's possible for someone to have, but he never throws his hands in the air and gives up (which he'd be perfectly entitled to do).
Like the other books, I listened to this on a Bolinda audiobook and it was narrated by the author. This really added to the whole experience.
4 stars
February 19, 2023
Felix is an interesting construct. In terms of age – thirteen – he is little more than a child, but when one takes into account the awful things which he has seen and has had to do, he seems very old indeed. He is a marvellous narrator, and is endearingly naive. One of the character traits which I found the most compelling about him was the way in which he continually prays to British author Richmal Crompton, merely because her Just William books kept him company whilst he was in hiding. He is a likeable character, and is both earnest and persistent. The way in which Gleitzman has crafted Felix’s first person narrative voice, which has been written entirely in the present tense, makes everything almost urgent, and this suits the story perfectly. The story is both believable and well-imagined, and the twists and turns throughout render it an unpredictable novel.
August 29, 2016
Such a good book. In my opinion this would be better read after book 2. Book 3 leaps forward 70 years in time. I feel that book 3 in doing this created some spoilers. This book continues from the end of book 2 and once again we are back with Felix's lovely commentary and inspiring optimism. very sad and disturbing but Felix never seems to give up hope. I think this is a book that is suitable for older teens. This story gives a very vivid insight into life in Poland during WW2.
May 22, 2021
After, Book 4 in Gleitzman's WW2 series, picks up where #2 left off, ignoring the disconcerting 70 year time hop that occurs between books 2&3.
This might be my favorite book in the series thus far. As Felix is now 13, he sees and understands more immediately all that occurs, which eliminates some of the lightness and humor of the previous books but seems appropriate for the age and subject matter. I also appreciate learning more about the partisans, a WW2 resistance movement that Felix is forced to join in his ongoing quest to survive and protect those he has come to love. Gleitzman strikes an effective balance of portraying war and its many tragedies and victims frankly while still allowing Felix the occasional miracle.
This might be my favorite book in the series thus far. As Felix is now 13, he sees and understands more immediately all that occurs, which eliminates some of the lightness and humor of the previous books but seems appropriate for the age and subject matter. I also appreciate learning more about the partisans, a WW2 resistance movement that Felix is forced to join in his ongoing quest to survive and protect those he has come to love. Gleitzman strikes an effective balance of portraying war and its many tragedies and victims frankly while still allowing Felix the occasional miracle.
May 17, 2021
Full of impact, this third story about Felix and the way he survived the war... Without any spoilers, let's just say that this third book deserves careful reading - more suffering, but also resilience, compassion, solidarity and much, much more!
Maria Carmo,
Lisbon, 25 May 2019.
Maria Carmo,
Lisbon, 25 May 2019.
March 10, 2022
Tento třetí díl Felixova příběhu byl opět velmi čtivý a přišel mi více "dospělácký". Už v něm nebylo tolik toho naivního dětského pohledu. Přece jen Felix je o pár let starší a podmínky jeho života jsou stále kruté díky probíhající válce. Děj měl spád a Felixovo vyprávění vás chytne za srdce a jen tak nepustí. S každou stránkou se o něho bojíte, fandíte a doufáte. Krásně sepsáno - škoda jen, že už Brzy budu na konci...
July 27, 2022
I was in tears by the end of this book. This series is so simple yet incredibly touching. Felix Salinger's journey as a young boy is heartbreaking.
April 21, 2023
i remember crying my eyeballs out to this
October 26, 2013
'After' is a beautiful book that will make you smile and cry. I loved it and recommend it to anyone looking for a quick but thought and feeling provoking read.
At first, I thought that Gleitzman wrote Felix's point of view and sentences as too simple and ignorant for a 13 year old but he did not disappoint because through the book, it is obvious that Felix matures. While this happens, his understanding and knowledge grows. His sentences also become more structured and mature. His character development is brilliant. We see a new side of Felix that we didn't see in the previous books. It shows how much he's been through and how it's affected him. This book and character has inspired me to name my son (if I have one later in life) Felix.
'After' captures what it would have been like in world war 2 very well. You are sucked into the book and feel like you're there, feeling and seeing what Felix is. The characters are described very well so you get a great understanding of how they look and what they are saying and doing.
I don't often cry while reading but this book made me tear up several times and cry like a baby for at least 3 chapters straight. You feel so sad, like you're really the one who has to suffer through them instead of just the reader. It is sad but beautiful at the same time. The feeling may not be great at the time of reading but you realise afterwards how beautiful it is. This book captures the best and worst of humanity and in individual people. You can learn from the events that it talks about, the feelings and events the characters go through and the feelings that it makes you, the reader, have.
'After' is a beautiful story that everyone should read.
At first, I thought that Gleitzman wrote Felix's point of view and sentences as too simple and ignorant for a 13 year old but he did not disappoint because through the book, it is obvious that Felix matures. While this happens, his understanding and knowledge grows. His sentences also become more structured and mature. His character development is brilliant. We see a new side of Felix that we didn't see in the previous books. It shows how much he's been through and how it's affected him. This book and character has inspired me to name my son (if I have one later in life) Felix.
'After' captures what it would have been like in world war 2 very well. You are sucked into the book and feel like you're there, feeling and seeing what Felix is. The characters are described very well so you get a great understanding of how they look and what they are saying and doing.
I don't often cry while reading but this book made me tear up several times and cry like a baby for at least 3 chapters straight. You feel so sad, like you're really the one who has to suffer through them instead of just the reader. It is sad but beautiful at the same time. The feeling may not be great at the time of reading but you realise afterwards how beautiful it is. This book captures the best and worst of humanity and in individual people. You can learn from the events that it talks about, the feelings and events the characters go through and the feelings that it makes you, the reader, have.
'After' is a beautiful story that everyone should read.
March 15, 2014
I fell into Felix's storytelling pattern with this one...his wishful thinking, his lovely stories to give himself and his friends hope. His moment of horrifying clarity, and the shift in his heart as each of those moments piles on top of the one before.
His second person 'suppose you...' rambles are important as he tries to make sense of what can have no sense...children fighting, hiding, killing. A land where there is NO safety. Not from the Nazis or the partisans or the Russians. A land where children are used, abused, forgotten. Where parents can't protect; where children crave protection.
This book shows Felix first clinging to the idea of family, with fantasies of finding new parents...then he fiercely rejects family, then he creates his own family. We see him growing as a caretaker, a healer, and we are so proud of his willingness to find some tiny inkling of good in the middle of WWII.
In his notes, Gleitzman tells us he didn't intend to write this book, but Felix insisted. I'm reading it out of the order the four books were written...but I needed to see Felix in these last days of the war, when Poland is once more a pawn, this time to the interests of the Russians who have their own ugly motivations for conquest.
Felix grows, but he keeps his core of stories, imagination, believing the best about all people, and his constant rearrangement of the world to fit the ugliness. At his core and his heart he believes in healing...am eager to see what kind of old man he grows into.
On to NOW.
His second person 'suppose you...' rambles are important as he tries to make sense of what can have no sense...children fighting, hiding, killing. A land where there is NO safety. Not from the Nazis or the partisans or the Russians. A land where children are used, abused, forgotten. Where parents can't protect; where children crave protection.
This book shows Felix first clinging to the idea of family, with fantasies of finding new parents...then he fiercely rejects family, then he creates his own family. We see him growing as a caretaker, a healer, and we are so proud of his willingness to find some tiny inkling of good in the middle of WWII.
In his notes, Gleitzman tells us he didn't intend to write this book, but Felix insisted. I'm reading it out of the order the four books were written...but I needed to see Felix in these last days of the war, when Poland is once more a pawn, this time to the interests of the Russians who have their own ugly motivations for conquest.
Felix grows, but he keeps his core of stories, imagination, believing the best about all people, and his constant rearrangement of the world to fit the ugliness. At his core and his heart he believes in healing...am eager to see what kind of old man he grows into.
On to NOW.
February 25, 2013
Another great Felix story narrated on Audiobook by Morris Gleitzman. Felix feels so real to me, he is a character that will stick with you forever and so will his stories. I'd love to see these books made into a movie, I wonder who they would get to play Felix.
We continue Felix's story from the end of the second book "Then", after having spent two years in a hole in a barn Felix ventures out and comes across a group of partisans who are fighting against the Nazi's. He joins this group and so his story continues. As with the other books in this series you will be in for a tear jerker and horrifying war scenes. If you would like to read the first chapter of this story then click here. These books are aimed at a younger audience but I think someone of any age would enjoy these stories. I also feel that lower primary aged children might not be able to read this one specifically as there is a scene towards the end that may be too mature for them.
I believe there's still more we need to find out about Felix. What happened to him after the war and there's the story of how and why he immigrated to Australia. I reckon that Morris Gleitzman should call it "Before" because it's before his happily ever after.
Also on my blog
We continue Felix's story from the end of the second book "Then", after having spent two years in a hole in a barn Felix ventures out and comes across a group of partisans who are fighting against the Nazi's. He joins this group and so his story continues. As with the other books in this series you will be in for a tear jerker and horrifying war scenes. If you would like to read the first chapter of this story then click here. These books are aimed at a younger audience but I think someone of any age would enjoy these stories. I also feel that lower primary aged children might not be able to read this one specifically as there is a scene towards the end that may be too mature for them.
I believe there's still more we need to find out about Felix. What happened to him after the war and there's the story of how and why he immigrated to Australia. I reckon that Morris Gleitzman should call it "Before" because it's before his happily ever after.
Also on my blog
November 11, 2012
After, narrated from the perspective of a thirteen year old Polish Jew named Felix, starts with him on his thirteenth birthday, hiding in a hole. His world is yet again turned upside down, as he meets the Partisans a small, independent group that oppose the Nazi's and sabotage Nazi trains, houses etc. causing havoc and destruction for the Germans.
A Partisan, Dr Zuzak recognises that Felix has the potential to be a great surgeon. Whilst undertaking many surgical operations, Felix's friend, Gabriek, who looked after Felix when he was in hiding, is separated from Felix and so Felix- determined, tries to get to him, and in doing so, meets Yuli, a Russian Partisan.
Felix and Yuli become separated from the partisans, and go to a nearby town to seek food. Whilst they are at the town, they meet some children, Nazi and Jewish, and form a friendship with them. The town is then bombed by the British and the Americans, and Felix and his small party, retreat to the woods.
The book concludes, with Felix, setting off to a Nazi death camp (the war being now over) to find his parents. When he gets there, he finds out that his Dad has died and that his Mum is just about to suffer the same fate. She dies in Felix's arms.
Felix then finds Gabriek and together, they start to mend the broken.
A Partisan, Dr Zuzak recognises that Felix has the potential to be a great surgeon. Whilst undertaking many surgical operations, Felix's friend, Gabriek, who looked after Felix when he was in hiding, is separated from Felix and so Felix- determined, tries to get to him, and in doing so, meets Yuli, a Russian Partisan.
Felix and Yuli become separated from the partisans, and go to a nearby town to seek food. Whilst they are at the town, they meet some children, Nazi and Jewish, and form a friendship with them. The town is then bombed by the British and the Americans, and Felix and his small party, retreat to the woods.
The book concludes, with Felix, setting off to a Nazi death camp (the war being now over) to find his parents. When he gets there, he finds out that his Dad has died and that his Mum is just about to suffer the same fate. She dies in Felix's arms.
Felix then finds Gabriek and together, they start to mend the broken.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2013
I decided to read the book "After" by Morris Gleitzman as it is the fourth and final book in the series and I had to finish a great series like this one.
The category on the bingo board that this book fits into is a book written in 2012 or 2013.
The character I found most interesting was Felix because I think that he is a smart thinker, a brave young boy and isn't scared of a new challenge.
My favourite/most interesting quote in the book was " Why?" he says. "Why should I keep a lid on it? My parents are dead. My whole family's dead. Our house is gone, My schools gone, I couldn't even bury my dog because our gardens gone." I like this quote because it shows you how precious things are in life and to appreciate what you've got. At times like this you realise just how fortunate you are and that there are always people with much bigger problems and struggles than you. It puts things in perspective!
Something I thought more about after reading this book was how terrible war was and that there are never any winners in war.
The category on the bingo board that this book fits into is a book written in 2012 or 2013.
The character I found most interesting was Felix because I think that he is a smart thinker, a brave young boy and isn't scared of a new challenge.
My favourite/most interesting quote in the book was " Why?" he says. "Why should I keep a lid on it? My parents are dead. My whole family's dead. Our house is gone, My schools gone, I couldn't even bury my dog because our gardens gone." I like this quote because it shows you how precious things are in life and to appreciate what you've got. At times like this you realise just how fortunate you are and that there are always people with much bigger problems and struggles than you. It puts things in perspective!
Something I thought more about after reading this book was how terrible war was and that there are never any winners in war.
January 8, 2022
I’m glad Morris Gleitzman wrote After, as it feels fitting that Felix’s story continues from Then.
Felix is older and has lost his innocence, but in his prose, Gleitzman still captures the sense of Felix. I found myself laughing at some of the lines, because of the slightly illogical path they take and how it’s very much like the Felix I read in the first books. I also enjoy how it introduces us to the beginning of Felix’s training as a medical professional, and that Felix’s maturity is reflected in him taking the role of protector and parent to other children. I wish we had explored more of the interaction between the Jewish girls and the Hitler Youth boys, as those scenes started to touch upon the idea of how children hold grudges, but shared experiences can help them see past them.
Finally, I love that Felix continues to have loyal animal companions by his side. The way Gleitzman characterises Felix’s relationship with them is so touching. Dom the horse reminds me of Boxer from Animal Farm, one of my favourite fictional animals.
Felix is older and has lost his innocence, but in his prose, Gleitzman still captures the sense of Felix. I found myself laughing at some of the lines, because of the slightly illogical path they take and how it’s very much like the Felix I read in the first books. I also enjoy how it introduces us to the beginning of Felix’s training as a medical professional, and that Felix’s maturity is reflected in him taking the role of protector and parent to other children. I wish we had explored more of the interaction between the Jewish girls and the Hitler Youth boys, as those scenes started to touch upon the idea of how children hold grudges, but shared experiences can help them see past them.
Finally, I love that Felix continues to have loyal animal companions by his side. The way Gleitzman characterises Felix’s relationship with them is so touching. Dom the horse reminds me of Boxer from Animal Farm, one of my favourite fictional animals.
February 22, 2016
Oh. Oh my. Gutted again. Felix, our naive but resourceful narrator has just turned thirteen, having spent more than a year hiding under the floorboards of Gavriek's barn. He's afraid that Gavriek has been taken by Nazis and sets out to rescue him. Instead, he finds that Gavriek is working with resistance fighters to blow up a railroad. The Germans are losing the war but trying to hunt down resisters. This title in the series is unavailable in the U.S. except as an audio or a Kindle edition and that's too bad. The first three books in the series, Once, Then and Now are beloved at my school library. I will have to send for a paperback from an overseas source. It is a painful read but so very important.
March 19, 2017
I can do little more than reiterate my admiration for this series, which seems to mine an even richer seam of raw human experience with each book. This one ventures even deeper into the horrors of the Holocaust than the previous ones, but also takes a broader look at the dehumanising effects of war. It all sounds unremittingly grim, but by maintaining a child's eye view Gleitzman still, almost miraculously, makes the whole thing entirely approachable for a young audience. Nor does he abandon the sense of humour or the warmth and humanity that goes a long way to making the unbearable bearable.
Which is not to say I wasn't weeping openly on public transport as I took every available moment to immerse myself in this beautiful, devastating masterpiece.
Essential reading.
Which is not to say I wasn't weeping openly on public transport as I took every available moment to immerse myself in this beautiful, devastating masterpiece.
Essential reading.
February 19, 2015
The 4th in Morris Gleitzman's Once series, this one chronicles Felix's life the last year of World War 2.
I can't imagine how difficult it is to write a children's book about the Holocaust. It can't be too harsh but then it can't sugarcoat. Gleitzman walks that line like a Wallenda with just the right amount of humour and innocence.
Even after all that Felix has been through he still has not become hardened to the violence that he sees. As much as he feels helpless, he finds ways to do what he has to to survive and to ensure the survival of those he has come to care about.
I think this one is the most heartbreaking of all though, I couldn't get through it without shedding some tears.
August 18, 2018
A história de Felix continua. Voltamos ao passado para descobrir o que acontece com ele no fim da guerra. Gabriek, Yuli e Pavel são elementos da policia secreta, no qual Felix acaba por se alistar. Gabriek e Yuli tornam-se nos seus novos protectores. Gabriek acredita que a educação é a maior arma, e o fará quer ser um cirurgião.
O fim é mais uma vez dramático. Felix descobre que o seu pai está morte, entre pela primeira vez num campo de morte e encontra a sua mãe ... A guerra acabou mas o sofrimento deste menino de 13 anos continua. Como chegará ele a Austrália?
O fim é mais uma vez dramático. Felix descobre que o seu pai está morte, entre pela primeira vez num campo de morte e encontra a sua mãe ... A guerra acabou mas o sofrimento deste menino de 13 anos continua. Como chegará ele a Austrália?
November 26, 2025
This was unbearable, I almost drowned in my own tears.
Gleitzman writes so insightfully of Felix's contradictions - how hard it is for him to retain his huamnity, when so many around him have lost theirs. What's the quote about evil? How it exists when good people do nothing? Felix is only 13, but he continually chooses to be helpful and kind and responsible, despite being in the worst of circumstances.
And what is really starting to blow my mind is that my own parents were both alive during World War II, which I hadn't really ever considered as they would have been between 2 and 9 years old. So I never actually thought to ask them if they had any memories of the war (they were in GB and UK respectively), or my grandparents either.
And here we are in 2025, with wars still happening all over the place, and people like the Orange Buffoon (TM) actively encouraging inhumane behaviour with things like ICE, which sound very much like some of the Nazi raids in this series of books. I love the character of Felix so much, I hope all the Felixes of the world will prevail.
Gleitzman writes so insightfully of Felix's contradictions - how hard it is for him to retain his huamnity, when so many around him have lost theirs. What's the quote about evil? How it exists when good people do nothing? Felix is only 13, but he continually chooses to be helpful and kind and responsible, despite being in the worst of circumstances.
And what is really starting to blow my mind is that my own parents were both alive during World War II, which I hadn't really ever considered as they would have been between 2 and 9 years old. So I never actually thought to ask them if they had any memories of the war (they were in GB and UK respectively), or my grandparents either.
And here we are in 2025, with wars still happening all over the place, and people like the Orange Buffoon (TM) actively encouraging inhumane behaviour with things like ICE, which sound very much like some of the Nazi raids in this series of books. I love the character of Felix so much, I hope all the Felixes of the world will prevail.
July 14, 2020
Another thought provoking and entertaining entry into the life of Felix during world war 2. Morris Gleitzman presents a much more mature tale that mirrors Felix’s older self as well as his attitude towards war and death. A great read, one which my year 6 class thoroughly enjoyed. A word of warning that this is a more mature entry in the series, therefore I would be careful if picking as a class novel (particularly if you have any sensitive children). Nevertheless, another great read filled with emotion, charm and a tasteful yet harrowing depiction of the atrocities of war.
September 30, 2025
After Felix lost Zelda during the second book, he became determined to defeat the nazis at any cost. Without Genia and Zelda, Felix met Gabriek, Genia’s loved one. Felix hid in a hole, keeping quiet and staying away from the nazis. Sadly, Gabriek got hurt badly by the nazi’s and the fire caused by them. Now Felix only had yuli as Grabiek was hurt and later at the end of the story, they decide whether to go to America or Australia. I preferably love this book. Although I liked the World War Two or its mystery, this book just leveled it up. Morris fleets an is one of my favourite authors and will always be.
October 23, 2022
Realmente esta colecção é das que mais tenho gostado. Apenas li este livro deste autor e afinal existem outros, fazendo quase parte de uma narrativa organizada em vários livros, mas que o autor refere poder realizar-se uma leitura independente. Qualquer das formas, é para dizer que gostei muito deste livro e que recomendo a todas as idades, principalmente aos jovens para desenvolver a sua empatia e generosidade.
July 31, 2024
I really like the style of the story wishing for a different perspective. Have a child with a different way of looking at it once there was a Jewish boy called Felix his parents taken by Nazis then his close friends it was taken away by Nazis now he is 80 living in Australia trying to protect his granddaughter Zelda.After…
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