Once chapter summaries by Mr. Nguyen https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017 en-us 2017-06-14 23:22:40 UTC 2025-09-24 06:31:00 UTC hello@padlet.com Chapter 1 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176471046 - The main character is Felix. He is Jewish and has been in an orphanage for three years and eight months.
- Felix thinks his parents, who are booksellers, have sent him a sign through because of a carrot in his soup.
- Felix enjoys making up stories and telling them to people.]]> 2017-06-14 23:24:56 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176471046 Chapter 2 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176471149
  • Felix thought the people in the car were his parents but they were just men with armbands.
  • Felix helped Jankiel from the torture squad by telling them a story.
  • Men in armbands arrived at the orphanage and burned books.
    • ]]>     2017-06-14 23:26:56 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176471149     Chapter 3 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176471190
  • Felix found out the men in armbands were Nazis looking for Jewish books.
  • Mother Minka told Felix that Sister Elwira put the carrot in his soup, that it wasn’t a sign from his parents.
  • Felix made up his mind to leave the orphanage to find his parents and tell them there are thugs burning books.
  • Felix left Dodie his favourite books.
  • Jankiel tried to stop Felix from going because Nazis were everywhere and it was too dangerous. He told Felix that Mother Minka made him promise he would tell no one about what he had seen
    • ]]>     2017-06-14 23:27:36 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176471190     Chapter 4 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176471256
  • Felix didn't eat the pig's food because there wasn't enough for the two of them.
  • Felix found a house where people must have just left, and when he heard gunshots in the distance he thought they were hunting rabbits.
  • Felix saw a truck full of half-naked people packed together.
  • He then saw a truck full of soldiers. One shot at him but missed because the truck hit a bump.
  • Felix heard a lot of gunfire after seeing the trucks and saw that the river had turned red. He thought it was a trick of the light
    • ]]>     2017-06-14 23:28:43 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176471256     Chapter 5 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176911534
  • Felix made it back to his old house and remembers that the street is different to how it used to be. It is not as busy anymore.
  • There are no longer books in his old house, there are clothes instead.
  • Instead of finding his parents in his house, he finds the Radzyn family who tell him it is their house now.
  • Felix thinks his parents have sold the shop and went to America.
  • Felix came across two kids who were playing a game and they told him to be sad because he was a Jew.
  • Felix finds out from Mr Kopek that it is a bad time for Felix to be around and gives him a piece of bread. Felix does not understand why some people are mean and some people are kind.
    • ]]>     2017-06-19 22:06:05 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176911534     Chapter 6 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176911980
  • Felix went to a house on fire and saw a dead woman and man, it made him cry.
  • It is the first time Felix thinks the Nazis must have killed people because they were Jewish booksellers. He then wondered if the Jews were bullied because of something else, not just because of their books.
  • Felix found a little girl who was unconscious and saved her. Her name was Zelda and Felix did not want to tell her that her parents were dead.
    • ]]>     2017-06-19 22:14:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176911980     Chapter 7 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176912504
  • Felix saw a crowd of people wearing armbands that had Jewish stars on them.
  • Felix and Zelda are found by a Nazi soldier and join the crowd of people. 
  • Zelda asked Felix why the people looked so sad. Felix didn't want to tell her even though he knew they were tired and hungry.
  • An elderly woman collapsed on the side of the road and nobody helped her, not even Felix.
  • Felix starts to think that perhaps the Nazis hate all Jewish people, not just Jewish booksellers.
    • ]]>     2017-06-19 22:26:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176912504     Chapter 8 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176912646
  • A Jewish man was beaten by Nazi soldiers and Felix tried to prevent Zelda from seeing it happen, but she did anyway.
  • Zelda and Felix saw a group of people being forced to dig a big hole.
  • Felix and Zelda reach the city where the Jewish people are being separated and a man is killed. They tried to escape but a solder dragged Zelda away from Felix and pointed a gun at her head.
    • ]]>     2017-06-19 22:29:37 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176912646     Chapter 9 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176927237
  • Zelda is saved by a man in a leather jacket who is wearing a Jewish armband. The Nazi soldier killed a woman and Felix passed out.
  • The man's name is Barney and he is looking after a number of young kids who have lost their parents.
  • Felix was angry at Barney and did not want to share his stories with the other kids even though they wanted to hear one. Zelda told a story instead.
    • ]]>     2017-06-20 02:26:03 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176927237     Chapter 10 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176927255
  • Felix is in a cellar with 7 other children who tell him that Adolf Hitler is the leader of the Nazis, and that Hitler does not like Jewish people.
  • Felix realises that his parents told him a story to keep him safe. He still thinks they are out there and he wants to go to save them.
    • ]]>     2017-06-20 02:26:14 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/176927255     Chapter 11 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177056456
  • Felix told Barney a story which was a lie so he could come with him. Barney knew he was lying and let him come anyway.
  • In the city, everyone has to be indoors at seven pm.
  • Felix finds out from Barney that the city they are in is called a ghetto and the Nazis make up the rules.
  • Barney tells Felix that he might not find his parents again. 
  • Barney is a dentist and Felix helps him fix the tooth of an ordinary citizen and a Nazi soldier by telling them stories. Felix wants to ask the soldier where his mum and dad are
    • ]]>     2017-06-21 04:32:28 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177056456     mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177056608 2017-06-21 04:34:08 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177056608 Chapter 12 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177057211
  • Barney stopped Felix from asking the Nazi soldier where his parents were because it was too dangerous. The soldier asked Felix to write the story down because it was so good.
  • Felix and the other kids try to see if they can spot their parents through the crack in the wall. 
  • Felix decides to tell Zelda that her parents are dead but she does not believe him.
  • All the other kids start crying for their dead families. Felix feels lucky because he thinks his parents are still alive.
    • ]]>     2017-06-21 04:43:45 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177057211     Chapter 13 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177147218
  • Felix lay with Zelda for hours after telling her that her parents were dead.
  • Barney gave Felix almost new boots because 'everybody deserves to have something good in their life at least once.'
  • Felix thinks that the Jewish people are being taken to the countryside and he wants to go to see if his family are there. Barney tells him that the Jews are being taken away to be killed. After a while Felix believes him even though he does not want to.
  • Felix sees a little kid who had been shot dead.
  • Felix wants to go into a deep sleep and never wake up and feel as bad as he does.
    • ]]>     2017-06-21 23:35:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177147218     Chapter 14 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177148404
  • Felix never wants to hear or tell another story again.
  • Zelda gives Felix her necklace even though she is sick.
  • Felix goes out alone to find aspirin for Zelda and a carrot.
  • Felix falls asleep while reading Just William and soldiers enter the apartment. He hides under a pile of books and manages to escape.
  • Felix finds out that Zelda's father was a Nazi soldier because he saw the photo in her necklace. Felix does not care if Zelda's dad was a Nazi, he still wants to save her.
  • Felix makes it back to the cellar but finds a Nazi truck there. He runs towards the cellar anyway.
    • ]]>     2017-06-21 23:55:50 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177148404     Chapter 15 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177260541
  • Barney and the rest of the kids are taken away by the Nazi soldiers. Felix realises the soldiers want the Jewish people to feel hopeless.
  • The kids and Barney witness a woman being killed by a Nazi soldier.
  • Felix gave Zelda back her necklace so she wouldn’t have to go on the train. Zelda and Barney could have stayed behind but they both decide not to leave the other children and go on the train where the doors are nailed shut.
    • ]]>     2017-06-23 02:46:27 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177260541     Chapter 16 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177260558
  • The train is packed  and people have little room. Felix rips pages out of his notebook, including stories about his parents to give to people to use as toilet paper. When he tries to stick the pages onto a metal bolt, on the train wall, it comes away.
  • Barney and other men kick the plank out and make a hole. People jump out but there are machine guns on the roofs of the train to kill people who try to escape.
  • Barney and some of the other kids do not want to risk jumping off the train. Felix, Zelda and Chaya do and jump off the train.
    •  
    ]]>     2017-06-23 02:47:01 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177260558     Chapter 17 mrnguyen2016 https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177260884
  • Felix and Zelda survive but Chaya was shot and did not. 
  • Felix remembers the metal syringes in Barney's pocket and knows he will not let the kids suffer.
  • Felix will never forget how lucky he is.
    • ]]>     2017-06-23 02:53:47 UTC https://padlet.com/mrnguyen2016/once2017/wish/177260884