The Boy in the Striped Pajamas ****

By John Boyne
Holocaust Historical Fiction

VIOLENCE ***
GUNS **
ACTIVITIES WITH THE HOLOCAUST ***
PERIL ***

Okay, this has to be the saddest book in the history of sad books! But it is really good and clean. Contains violence, but no immorality or language. Meet Bruno, a nine-year-old boy in Berlin, Germany, 1945. His father had just been promoted to ‘Commandment’, whatever that means. He gets to wear a fancy uniform and wear a strange patch with the symbol of twisted cross on his upper arm. His father’s new job makes them move from their lovely home in Berlin to a boring house called ‘Out-With’, where he discovers a big fence and a camp, where everyone wears stripped pajamas. Join Bruno as he tries to make sense of what’s going on around him, and why he can’t go over the fence and play with the children in the striped pajamas.
A powerful point of view from an innocent child of Germany amidst World War 2, although not very historically accurate because he and his sister would have been involved in the 'Hitler Youth Program', among other things. But still a great story!