Dallas’ Pick: The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne

One of the most interesting times to me is World War II and the holocaust. I originally watched this movie a few years ago on Netflix and it was really well done. I was a little skeptical to read the book because I did not want to take anything away from the movie. The book did not disappoint my view on the movie at all. They were both pretty close to one another. The main character Bruno is a 9 year old boy, with a sister named Gretel that is 12 years old. Bruno’s father is a Commandant for the Nazi Reich, but Bruno has no idea what that means. He ends up moving from Berlin to a new house, “Out-with”, which they never say out right but they lead you to believe that it is the concentration camp Auschwitz. Outside of his house’s window he can see the camp, and he grows more curious the more he is told not to go in that direction. Of course like all kids, Bruno does not listen to his parents and ends up sneaking out to go explore the area near the camp. Bruno meets what will become his new best friend Shmuel, who actually is a Jew and lives in the concentration camp. Bruno is so young he does not understand what Nazis and Jews are, he just knows that Shmuel is his friend and he wants to play with him all the time. I will not ruin the end of the book but I will warn you, like all other young adult books. They play with your emotions. The movie and the book both were very well done.