THEN

Morris Gleitzman reads his sequel to ONCE (2005), sounding for all the world like a 10-year-old boy. He manages this by assuming an attitude that combines hopeful innocence with the hollow sound of a child who has seen too much for his years. Felix, a Jewish boy in WWII Poland, and 6-year-old Zelda, continue their harrowing escape from Nazi brutality. They find Genia, a woman who ignores personal risk and takes them in, dyeing their hair and changing their names. Felix faces moments that force him to make difficult choices, yet Gleitzman never becomes preachy. He tells a moral, intelligent, characteristically honest, and exciting story, just right for middle-school listeners. The trilogy's planned final book, NOW, is told by Felix as an old man. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2008]