National Network for Equitable Library Service

Set in post-war Communist Hungary, in the fictional town of Békes, Never, Again is the story of seven-year-old Tomi Wolfstein, the son of Holocaust survivors who have never told him anything about their past experiences in the concentration camps. The story opens in the fall of 1956, when Tomi is about to start school, and chronicles his adventures and experiences in the months leading up to and during the Hungarian uprising.While most of the narrative is told from young Tomi's perspective as he attempts to understand the events unfolding around him, interwoven into the escape story are flashbacks of his parents' World War II experiences-stories of labour and concentration camps, of survival and escape. Never, Again is Tomi's journey - physical, emotional and symbolic - from innocence to experience. It is about the complexities of being a child during turbulent times. It is about faith, prejudice, ignorance, hate and nationalism, as well as kindness, loyalty, hope and courage.