John Boyne
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is about a boy, Bruno. Bruno is an adventurous 9 year old living in 1940's Berlin until his father is reassigned to Auschwitz (which he pronounces Out-With). Bruno hates the move and resists the possibility that this change is permanent for a long time, until he meet's the boy on the other side of the fence.
For starters I did not see the movie adaptation that came out last year and new nothing about the actual story when I walked into Barnes and Noble last week. I have to say I wasn't expecting what I got. Bruno is so naive it is painful. He thinks that being honest will get him everything he wants and that everything can be turned back to normal just by asking for it. He speaks out of turn and starts. He is an amazing character, mostly because one would think that a 9 year old living under one of Hitlers top men would understand what was going on in his country, but Bruno is oblivious. Knowing how history plays out makes reading Bruno's thoughts painful, many are callous because of his lack of understanding and even more are dangerous. I found myself thinking as I read things like "oh please don't say that out loud".
As the back description warns, this definitely isn't a book for 9 year olds. I would very much recommend The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It is a great book that will definitely leave you with a heavy heart.
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