RDG291 post

[Alyson]

The boy in the striped pajama was a book that kept you wondering and questioning peoples character. The book is set in Auschwitz, which Bruno pronounces "Out-with", where a boy and his family are blind sided to the chaos that is happening around them. We learn through out the book that the father is the Commander and is in charge of the camp that is set behind their house. Bruno, the young boy, is a curious explorer who meets a friend name Schmuel on the other side of the fence. Bruno doesn't understand why Schmuel is on the other side of the fence and does not understand the severity of everything that goes on around them. We are taken on this journey with Bruno as he visits his friend Schmuel almost every day and brings him food. One day Bruno decides he wants to be with Schmuel on the other side of the fence because he has no other friend, while Schmuel is surrounded by other men and boys. The book ends tragically as his mother and father are looking for him and find his clothes next to the fence where there is a hole that he must have climbed through. The book ends with Schmuel and Bruno holding hands as they are being gassed in a chamber. I thought it was a great book since it showed the tough conditions the Jewish had to deal with during that time and the naive boy who did not understand that people were treated differently for the way they were born. My personal opinion about reading this to a young crowd is that Im not too sure if they would have picked up on all the clues on the fact that they are in Auschwitz and that the Dad is a commander for Hitler. I do thin that it is a good historical book that could be read during a lesson and be discussed about to answer the questions of a young reader.