The boy in the striped pajamas Book Review

 











1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boyne, J. (2006). The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. David Fickling Books. ISBN:978-0-329-70694-4

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Bruno and his family live a nice life in Berlin as his dad is high-ranking in the Nazi Party. His father is transferred to Auschwitz. Bruno struggles with the move and spends most of his days looking out his window at these strange men in matching pajamas behind a fence. He goes exploring and discovers a boy by the fence with his exact birthday. They meet each day at the same place where Bruno brings food. Longing to interact with his new best friend, Bruno puts on a pair of pajamas to help Shmuel find his missing father and ends shockingly. 

 3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This historical young adult fiction book is written by John Boyne . It falls under the category of war and conflict historical fiction. It involves fictional characters but tells a story about the Nazis and Auschwitz. Prejudice and friendship are the two main topics of the story. In this novel Bruno and his family move from Berlin to a home outside Auschwitz because Hitler wants his dad to run the concentration camp. The characters are believable as Germans during WWII, especially as an officer’s family. The theme is empathy and curiosity. Bruno and Shmuel are only 9 years old and don’t understand the repercussions of Auschwitz. The emotions carried throughout are opposing; innocent and brutal. The reader is captivated by the stark differences in the boys’ lives all while they don’t seem to be bothered by it. The ending is shocking and left me so empathetic for those who had to endure the horrors at the hands of the Nazis. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

  • Booklist, 07/01/06

  • Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 10/01/06

  • Horn Book Magazine, 09/01/06

  • Kirkus Reviews, 08/15/06

  • Kliatt starred, 09/01/06

  • Publishers Weekly, 07/17/06

  • School Library Journal starred, 09/01/06

  • Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), 12/01/06



  • Booklist (July 2006 (Vol. 102, No. 21))

  • Gr. 7-10. Some of the most thought-provoking Holocaust books are about bystanders, including those who say they did not know what was happening. This first novel tells the bystander story from the viewpoint of an innocent child. Bruno is nine when his family moves from their luxurious Berlin home to the country, where "the Fury"has appointed Bruno's father commandant. Lost and lonely, the child hates the upheaval, while his stern but kind father celebrates his success because he has learned to follow orders. Bruno can see a concentration camp in the distance, but he has no idea what is going on, even when he eventually meets and makes friends with Shmuel, a boy from Cracow, who lives on the other side of the camp fence. The boys meet every day. They even discover that they have the same birthday. It's all part of a poignant construct: Shmuel is Bruno's alternative self, and as the story builds to a horrifying climax, the innocent's experience brings home the unimaginable horror. Pair this with Anne Frank's classic diary and Anita Lobel's No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War (1998).



  • 5. CONNECTIONS

Related Books:

Skrypuch, M.. (2018). Don’t tell the enemy. Scholastic Canada, Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-44312-840-7

Cohen-Scali, S. (2017). Max. Roaring Brook Press. ISBN: 978-1-62672-071-8

Activities:

Research concentration camps in Germany



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