First Post of the New Year: Once by Morris Gleitzman

Last year I didn't come close to hitting my reading goal of 100. I had lowered it a lot. A lot happened last year. We had multiple deaths in our family. We had a lot of changes at school. I have raised my goal to 150 books for 2020. I just need to work harder at my reading. 

This series is one that I am glad I have read. I will give you one review per day. However, it only took me two days to read the entire series. They are short, but powerful. I definitely recommend these books to young and old alike.

Once by Morris Gleitzman

Genre: Middle Grade, YA, Historical Fiction

Source: Purchased

As a teacher I am always trying to find wonderful books for my shelves. This is a whole series based around the Holocaust and its aftermath on people. I definitely recommended it to my students.  Felix is a young Jewish  boy living a hidden life in an orphanage. He believes his parents will be coming for him any day. He has been at the orphanage for three years.  One day the Nazis’s visit the orphanage and find Jewish books which they take to the courtyard to burn. Felix is horrified that they would burn these books. His parents owned a book store. He decides he is going to have to find and save his parents and their books. He prays for help to God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Pope and Hitler. This gives us an indication that he has no idea what is going on in the world.  Later he adds in the name of his favorite author and removes Hitler’s name. He gets himself and others out of trouble by telling stories. I think it was Felix’s love of books that helped me connect to him. He runs away from the orphanage and rescues a young girl whose parents are killed. It seems to be his mission to help others as he tries to find his parents. This is a wonderful book highly recommended. Be advised that the author does not water down what the Nazis were like or the atrocities they inflicted on others.

Blue: Little Boy Blue by Elizabeth Rose

       I liked the fact that I could have read this book as a stand-alone. I was asked to read and review this book. It looked so interesting I purchased all three and started at the beginning. Since Raven Birchfield dug up an old nursery rhyme book and a quartz necklace things have not been the same. First, she was haunted by Mary, Mary Quite Contrary. Then she had to help her best friend who was being controlled by Miss Muffet. Who would have suspected she would now have to help her brother who is being controlled by Little Boy Blue. He found an old trumpet when they moved into his aunt’s house. He is not very good at playing it. However, Blue is definitely good at playing the trumpet. Johnny likes Blue so he is perfectly fine being stuck in this realm that Blue once lived in.

Everything happening to Johnny began when his sister found a blue jacket in an old trunk. It was given to her brother as a birthday gift. The jacket is all that is needed for Johnny to start behaving differently. There is a lesson to be learned in this one. This book talks about confidence or believing in oneself. I am liking the way these books are going and look forward to reading more by this author.

Muffet:Miss Muffet by Elizabeth Rose

           It wasn’t bad enough that Raven Birchfield was controlled by Mary, Mary Quite Contrary for a while. It all started when she found an old nursery rhyme book and a crystal in her back yard. The battle to keep Mary from over-taking her life was real. Now Raven has something more to worry about. Her best friend Candy is being controlled by Miss Muffet.

Candy is the best candidate for Miss Muffet. She has a lot of anger toward her step-father. He is abusive in many ways. Miss Muffet feeds off of that anger. Can Raven help her best friend overcome this terror known as Miss Muffet?
          This was another wonderful by Elizabeth Rose. I have always loved nursery rhymes. I was in high school when I learned there was a completely different reason for the nursery rhymes I grew up with. They were not originally created to entertain children. They were there to teach and to express feelings about what was going on during the time period.  This was the second book in the series so I am looking forward to reading the next one.