Wednesday, August 05, 2009

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne




Bruno comes home one day from school to find his family's maid Maria packing up his belongings. Confused as ever, he goes to seek out his mother for answers. It all comes back to his Father's job for the Fury. The new house is not like the one in Berlin at all. Bruno has no friends to play with and his parents get a tutor so he can continue his schooling. His older sister Gretel can be very annoying. He's not sure he'll make it at the new house until he explores and meets this little boy Schmuel who wears stripped pajamas and lives on the other side of the fence.

Mr. Boyne did a fabulous job with the story line. You really get to see the world at that time through a naive child's eyes. The beliefs that were held at that time show through this book. The black and white way of life is again shown very well. I'm not sure how the writer was able to write this book but it was well done.

I'm not really sure what more to say since I don't want to give away the plot. After finishing it up, I couldn't pick up another book. It's an emotional roller coaster and I am so glad I finally read it. It's definitely a favorite of the year so far since it expounded on so much that I knew. To see the inter workings of the Nazi from a child's perspective was something that I haven't come across before. Bruno is a little boy who will stay with me for a long time.

John Boyne/New Author/ Holocaust/Adult Fiction/215 pages/ 5 out of 5

I was impressed with the bland cover because then you didn't have any preconceived notions about the book. I am curious to read his other works as well as to see the movie.