Now continues the other two books but just in the present. Felix is now 80 years old, a retired surgeon and also lives in Australia. He has a grand-daughter named after his best friend in the previous books, Zelda. The story mentions some spoilers for the past novels so I would say to read Once & Then before starting. The war has officially ended, but the streets are still a battleground - for food, for shelter, for protection. Felix is in hiding to stay safe, but has been left holding the baby - literally. Felix vows protect the infant, just as a few incredible people saved him from the Holocaust. million Jewish children died in the Holocaust. Morris Gleitzman’s Jewish grandfather lived in Poland, but fled the country before the war. But his extended family perished in the Holocaust. Felix and Zelda are not real, but in writing ‘Once’ Gleitzman was inspired by true events and real-life heroes.

Now by Morris Gleitzman - Penguin Books Australia

And that’s really what ‘Soon’ is about. The Soviet Red Army pushed out Nazi German forces from occupied Poland, and readers find Felix and Gabriek at the beginning of Soviet communist dominance at the end of the World War Two, over what had become the Polish People's Republic. Gleitzman is glimpsing the periods of social unrest in the country that was trying to heal the scars of war – and Felix starts to comprehend how nothing takes so long to heal as the horrors of war. You want to change the world,’ says Gabriek. ‘That’s natural at your age. But only dreamers try to change things when the world’s in this state. Sensible people know it’s as much as we can do to look after ourselves.’

Doctor Zelda’s new in town,’ she says to them. ‘We’re all very excited. She’s a medical genius. She can cure zits and bed-wetting and do heart transplants.’

Now - Morris Gleitzman - Google Books Now - Morris Gleitzman - Google Books

Gleitzman has managed to pull this trilogy completely together, yet, interestingly enough, each novel can even stand on it own. So, if you have any interest at all in WWII literature, this is a trilogy not to be missed.At the end of the second book, poor Felix has just seen his foster mother and friend hung in the town square for what amounts to 'looking at the Nazi officers a bit funny'as far as I could tell. As with the other Felix books, research was an important part of preparing to write Now. The real life stories of the people and communities caught up in the terrible bushfires that swept through parts of Victoria, Australia in February 2009 inspired the story of Now in all kinds of ways. Many of those real life stories were recorded in the extensive media coverage of that time, and many others live on in the following books: When Felix receives a sign (in the form of a whole carrot) he is sure it means his parents are returning for him. So he takes his beloved notebook, full of fanciful stories, and he leaves the convent to go in search of his parents. As an older reader you experience the horrors of war creeping into Felix’s reality slowly, bit by bit and with a gut-churning inevitability that you wish you could stop… It’s utterly horrendous. But the Holocaust is something that should always be remembered and taught to younger generations, and Gleitzman’s ‘Once’ series is incredibly accessible for young readers (10+), while never once refraining from the impacts of death or the gravitas of war and genocide.