The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Review

                         
                                            

                                                The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

     
       I recently finished John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I would rate this tale of two unlikely friends 3/5 stars. When choosing to read this book, I did not know what to expect. I hadn't even heard of it before. I was surprised that I enjoyed this book at all because I usually read more stories about horror and fantasy rather than historical fiction.

        I thought the book had a great concept and a unique point of view. Many people don't think about what the Holocaust would be like from a child's perspective. Although, this caused some confusion for me. Since the main character, Bruno, didn't know what all was going on at the time, the author was forced to be vague about some events to keep in character. This confused me because it was difficult for me to pick up right away what was going on during certain parts of the plot. One example of this is when Bruno first finds out that he's moving to somewhere close to "Out-with". As the reader, I did not know what "Out-with" was and didn't make the connection that Bruno was referring to Auschwitz until later in the story.

       Another part of the story that I did not like is how little we know about some of the characters. One of the characters I would like to know more about is Shmuel. His story was never directly talked about, only hinted at. I feel as if this would be confusing to readers that have little knowledge about the Holocaust, and didn't know many of the events that happened during that time period.

      Overall, I enjoyed this book but I would not recommend it to high school students for anything but pleasure reading, it being an easier to read story that doesn't challenge your knowledge of vocabulary.

Goodreads Description and Reviews

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

                 My current independent reading choice is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. The story takes place during World War Two while Adolf Hitler is in power and the holocaust is taking place. The protagonist is a eight-year-old German boy who's father is in an important position as a soldier. One day, after coming home from school, Bruno finds his possessions packed and is informed that his family will being moving to a new home in a place called "Out-With".




                  Bruno believes that he will never create any friends at his new home, seeing no other houses around and no other children until he sees people in the distance. These people are always wearing striped pajamas and wander around in an enclosed area. After speaking with his father, Bruno was told not to worry about the people in the fenced in area and that they weren't considered people at all. Against his father's wishes, Bruno decides to visit the fenced area and meets a boy his age from Poland. Why does this boy always wear his pajamas? Why can't he come to the other side of the fence? What exactly does his father do for work? These are all questions that Bruno have throughout the story up until this point.