Teen Tuesday: Always by Morris Gleitzman

Image: Penguin Australia

Always by Morris Gleitzman. 302 p. Felix and Zelda #7. Viking/ Penguin Australia, November, 2021. 9780143793243. (Review of purchased, finished paperback copy.)

Teen Tuesday features Always by Morris Gleitzman. Felix Salinger's story comes to an end in this seventh book of a very powerful series. Readers may be a bit confused at first, because this is a dual-narrative. All the others have been narrated by Felix. Wassim begins the book with his search for Felix Salinger. He lives in an unnamed eastern European country with his Uncle Otto since the deaths of his parents, but their existence is threatened by a neo-Nazi gang called the Weasels. Wassim, who is mixed race is often their target. Wassim's grandfather knew Felix from their work in the Resistance

Felix has retired from his surgical practice and after bidding his granddaughter, Zelda good bye at the airport, wonders how he will fill his days and avoid loneliness. When Wassim shows up on his doorstep with a note written by Wassim's grandfather over seventy years earlier, Felix knows he needs to offer Wassim "good protection." But how can an elderly man protect a young child in the face of unbridled hate?

Always is best read by those who have read the entire series. As in the earlier books, each chapter starts with the title word, in this case, "always." Knowing that this was my last visit with Felix, I had decided to read the book slowly. I soon realized that I had to frequently put it down due to the peril Felix and Wassim were in. The world doesn't seem to have changed much since the 1930s and 40s. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to hate- courage and hope for a better world.

This was a beautiful and perfect ending.