The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

By John Boyne

224 pages

4 hours and 56 minutes listening time

Grade A+

I would like to first thank Jacki at Lovely Little Shelf where I found this book. I at first didn't want to read another YA book, I wanted to read a grown up book ;) However when I read her review and found out it was about WWII, of course I had to read it because like I have previously stated, I am terribly intrigued about this time period.

So here I am listening to this book, thinking that it is a terribly innocent book about a German boy who befriends a Jewish boy. And mostly that is what it is. Bruno is 9 and he and his family move from Berlin to the concentration camp in Auschwitz where his father is a head honcho in the Nazi army. The wonderful ting about this book is the pure innocence of Bruno. He thinks they are moving to Out With, not Auschwitz, and he thinks the Fury is coming to dinner, instead of the Furor. One day as he is wandering through the woods, he comes across the work camp and starts talking to a little boy his age named Schmuel, through the fence. Schmuel explains all about the camp to Bruno, who thinks that they have all kinds of fun and sing and dance in the camp.

The book is incredible. I having been thinking about it all day long since I finished it, and I am sure, as with The Book Thief, I will be thinking about it for days.

It is sad, it will tug at your heart strings until you feel like you are being ripped in half. But read it. Invest the few hours it will take to read it, because it's just that good.