Now

This book is about a 12 year old girl called Zelda living in Australia. Zelda is being bullied by a girl in her school called Tonya. Tonya has a younger brothert called Josh who is in Zelda's class. Zelda is currently living with her grandfather Felix. Feliix lived through the war but has never shared his troubled memories with Zelda. When Zelda finds out a little about his past Felix opens up and tells her about his traumatic experiences as a child. Later on, these characters are brought together and need to service and Australian bush fire which was started by a lightning strike in the forest. Zelda is a young girl who is kind, caring , a good listener, empathetic, emotional, very self-criticising and she blames herself for things that aren't her fault. I think she is also quite determined. The main characters seem real because Zelda and Felix have a close relationship. During the story they become closer. She arranged a surprise for her grandfather's birthday. He decides that it is better to be honest about his during the war rather than hide the truth to protect her. Tonya appears to be the villain although she might not be as bad she seems. The gang of bullies in school were picking on her brother, Josh. To protect him, Tonya encouraged the gang to pick on Zelda instead. Even then, Tonya discouraged them from being too mean or going too far. The story is imaginative and flows at a steady pace. It becomes exciting when Zelda accidentally starts a small house fire when preparing the surprise for Felix. I could really feel Zelda's sense of panic as she desperately extinguished the flames. This was nothing compared to the desolation caused by the bush fire. The language painted a picture of smoke, piles of ash and burnt brick. The book explores two themes. The first one being family and relationships, as brother and sister, and granddaughter and grandfather care for each other. Zelda goes a step further and becomes the heroine of the story by saving Josh's life, the brother of the girl who bullied her. Yes, she is that kind! Secondly, the book also teaches us about the danger of bush fires in Australia. Even though Zelda thought she had accidentally started the fire, we later learned that it was a natural disaster. This happens quite frequently in dry weather and can spread quickly. It is therefore important to know how to react. In this case, the characters hid in a hole dug by their pet dog Jumble and managed to survive below the flames. If you are looking for humour, this book might not be for you. The story starts slowly and the bullying element was a bit boring but finding out about Felix's past was both interesting and shocking. The drama around the bush fire was thrilling too.I would give the book 4 out 5 stars.

Zelda picked up a parcel from the Australian Post Office, it was her grandfather Felix's birthday, on the way home she is bullied by three large girls because she had said at school that her grandfather was a surgeon and her parents were doctors, a boy comes by and helps her, on arriving home her dog Jumbles runs to meet her and grandfather has a cake for her first week at school, she gives her present to Felix, a book he has always wanted, grandfather has weak legs from hiding from the Nazi's in a hole for two years during the war, Felix hears me shout out during the night and works out I am being bulliedZelda's parents were in Africa helping sick children so she lived alone with her grandfather, while in town that day Zelda starts getting bullied by text, in town she spots the bullies and panics, Felix tells her tales of the war to calm her down, there is a Gala lunch to go to in Felix's honour, 200 guests will be there, these are all children grown up that owe their lives to Felix's skill as a surgeonFelix is asleep and Zelda decides to do him a Birthday tea in the woods, she see's the boy that helped her before who says his name is Josh but he also says he is the brother of Tonya one of the bullies, he has a t-shirt to give her but Zelda thinks the bullies might be around and while Josh is trying to make her take the t-shirt they knock over candles starting a fire, there is a fire warning at that time because everything was so dry but Zelda gets the fire outThe next morning there is a bush fire and Zelda is convinced she started it, she runs into town to volunteer as a fire fighter but she is to young, Felix comes and gets her and tells her it is nothing to do with her, on the way home they here that the fire has changed direction and was headed for them and the town, they rush back to the houseFirst Zelda wants to find Jumble and she does hiding under a wheel barrow, Felix gets out the hose pipes and they try and keep the fire away from the house but the power goes off and there is no more water, Felix goes to try and start the generator, birds start falling from the shy and the windows to the house shatter with burning ash blowing inside, Zelda ran into the house and used everything she could find to put out fires, water from the toilet cistern and bottles of ginger beer but she was losing, a burning book case fell on her, Felix managed to pull her out, there was nowhere to go, they dug a hole in the ground covered them selves with anything they could find and tried to wait it outAfterwards everything was gone, the house, the fences everything all they could do was sit and wait for help to come, suddenly a car appeared riding on metal rims, the tyres had burnt off, Tonya was at the wheel and her brother Josh was on the back seat unconcious, Tonya begged them to help her, her parents were out fighting the fireFor what follows you will have to read on, Tonya finds her parents fire engine burnt out, a large tree blocks the way to hospital, they have to carry Josh, the hospital has gone, there are burnt bodies everywhere, some has to operate on Josh or he will dieI have read the book before this so have an idea of the characters, I have to admit I was losing interest in the first few chapters but once the book got underway it was good, worth a read

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.NOW is the conclusion to Morris Gleitzman's wonderful trilogy for children which brings us from 1940s Poland to present day Australia. The author insists that all three books can be read as stand-alones and I suppose that, technically, that is true but if you want to reap the full benefit of these short but powerful novels, you need to read them in the right order, Once, Then and Now.Even though NOW is firmly set in the present, there are constant reminders of Felix's past experiences. Zelda has some idea of his past but has been sheltered from the more brutal episodes. She loves her Grandfather dearly but seems to inevitably end up getting into scrapes despite her best intentions - including nearly causing a bushfire. Indeed, the dreadful trauma wrought by the Victorian bushfires of 2009 are vividly presented here. At 167 pages, this is a quick yet substantial read and alongside its fellow novels, would be an excellent way to introduce children to the Holocaust without frightening them off completely.Although perhaps less poignant than its predecessors, it is a fitting conclusion as we return to the present and see how future generations have been affected yet are still able to move ahead in a positive manner. The memory of Zelda lives on. I will ensure that my own children will get the opportunity to read this trilogy and recommend it to all adults too, especially when we need reminded to count our blessings.