The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
by John Boyne
Bruno is only nine, so you’ll have to forgive him for not fully understanding the world around him. He arrives home from school one day to find the maid packing away all his things. His family is moving because his father, who recently became a commandant, was visited by “The Fury” and is now in charge of a place called “Out With.” The house there is small, but there is a huge fence on the other side, full of small huts and large buildings with smokestacks, and lots of men and boys in striped pajamas. He makes a friend from the other side of the fence, but they can’t play together. Bruno brings his hungry friend food but can’t invite him to dinner.
This is not an easy book to read. It’s so easy for us to understand what Bruno is seeing and we just want to scream and warn him to run away from it all. So many books about WWII and the holocaust show us what it was like, but this one lets you learn with Bruno. Through the eyes of a niave child we truly have to question, rather than just accept.
