Once hardcover educational edition (NEW LONGMAN LITERATURE 11-14) - Tapa dura

"Like "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (rev. 9/06), this Holocaust parable plays its main character's naivete against readers' likely knowledge of the historical realities, but here the juxtaposition is believable and not at all precious; like "The Book Thief "(rev. 3/06), the novel extols the power of storytelling in the face of tragedy, but "Once" pits Felix's stories against even deeper ugliness. ... Gleitzman manages to find a grain of hope in the unresolved (and likely dire) conclusion, but this is the rare Holocaust book for young readers that doesn't alleviate its dark themes with a comforting ending."-"The Horn Book, "Starred Review"This gripping novel will make readers want to find out more"-"Booklist"

Felix can't stop wondering what has happened to his parents. He's been living in an orphanage in the mountains for over three years now, and they still haven't come to get him. When men arrive one day and start burning the orphanage's books, Felix is upset and can't understand what is happening. But this is Poland in 1942 and the men are Nazis, come to burn Jewish books. Fearing for his Jewish bookseller parents, Felix escapes and embarks on a dangerous mission across Nazi-occupied Poland, determined to warn his parents about what is going on. A remarkable and powerful novel from one of the most popular children's authors. "Gleitzman is a highly skilled comic author; this story proves he can write tragedy as well." The Independent