This story is from the perspective of Bruno, a nine year old boy living in Berlin, Germany. In the beginning, Bruno moves with his family from Berlin to a place that he calls “Out-with.” Throughout, you see his confusion about what’s going on around him. Why did his family have to move? Bruno wants to go back to Berlin where his friends are, and where his grandparents are. Looking out his bedroom window, he sees in the distance a fence, and beyond that fence, he sees people wearing what he describes as stripped pajamas.
Eventually, Bruno realizes that this is not going to be a short stay, and that they will be staying at Out-with for longer than just the few weeks that he had hoped. Having liked exploring his house before the move, Bruno decides to explore again, only this time the area surrounding the house since the house is too small for any exploration. In his exploration, he is walking along the fence and see a boy wearing the stripped pajamas sitting on the other side of the fence. Bruno wants to be friends with this boy, as he has no friends in the area. They boys start talking, and learn they are the same age. In they boys talks, you can see each one’s perspective, and not understanding the other boys perspective.
I found this book interesting because it came from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know what’s going on around him. He’s living next to a camp where his father works, and soldiers are constantly at his house. He see the prisoners and can’t understand why they are living where they are living and wearing what they are wearing.
I HATED this book. I found it to be really unbelievable, the child character was too forced to be believable and just came off stupid.
It isn’t non-fiction btw, it’s historical fiction but completely made up nonetheless.
I fixed it. Thanks.
Another hate-vote for this one. Its sole redeeming virtue is that my students love it and I’m all for anything that actually makes them read, but DAMN I wish they had better taste.
I read this back in CBR7 and found it frustrating and slightly baffling. If Bruno had been 6 instead of nine, his ignorance and complete lack of understanding of the situation. There is no way a German school child in 1943 wouldn’t have been thoroughly brain-washed about the superiority of the Aryan race and the inferiority of the Jews. It takes a very serious subject and makes it seem trivial and simplistic.